Formed in 1995, Blackened Viking Death Metal band MANEGARM has been on a roll with eight releases. Their latest album "Fornal Darsagor" is a masterpiece.  Now I haven't really listened to a whole lot from this genre, but this album blew me away. The vocals and bass is played by Erik Grawsiö and he is amazing. The guitar is played by Markus Andé which he does a fantastic job and the drummer Jacob Hallegren is phenomenal.

The first song "Sveablotet" is absolutely amazing. It reminds me of an epic but written to Viking metal. The clean vocals on this song really bring it all together for me. I really wish I could speak Swedish so I knew exactly what they were singing about. But even not knowing Swedish I know this song is amazing. "Hervors Arv" is up next and it reminds me of riding into a battle to vanquish your enemies. The guitars on this song are incredible as well as the drumming. Be cautioned, if you are driving while listening to this, watch your speed. I caught myself going 15 over the speed limit and had to slow down.

"Slaget Vid Bråvalla" is just as epic as the last song and I think that's why I love this album so much. It's highly energetic and is written beautifully. The clean vocals kind of remind me of Vortex from DIMMU BORGIR which is always a good thing. "Ett Sista Farväl" slows the pace down and also introduces female cleans, which that alone will pull me all the way in to loving a song. This is by far one of my favorite songs on the album. Even though it's slower, it still gives off a sense of adventure.

"Spjutbädden" sounds a lot different from the previous songs, it has more of a deep and angry sound to it, almost like there is an impending doom. So far this album has had nothing but great musicianship. I really need to look into this genre more, I will probably go back and listen to MANEGARM's entire discography. "Tvenne Drömmar" made me say holy shit out loud when it first started. This song is incredible right from the beginning. You will definitely want to headbang and whip your hair around for a good portion of the song.

"Krakes Sista Strid" really makes your blood start pumping. It gives off the feeling of a battle won. I really picture a bad ass Viking going around and kicking ass and not taking any names. I truly enjoyed this song. It also has some really nicely written melodic parts to it. "Dödskvädet" begins with the sounds of wind and ravens. It sounds pretty morose but is filled with clean vocals and acoustic instruments. This song really brought the whole album together for me. If you are a fan of Viking/Black/Death metal go pick this album up as soon as you can!