I don't know... Is it cool with this Folksy influences with traditional instruments in the music or is it just really annoying? One thing with Danish SVARTSOT is that they do have a lot of good and creative melodies and really great riffs in their music. The guitar gnawing in the background lies between Power Metal and Thrash and it's absolutely wrong to complain about the performance, from any of them. Everything is very well played, the songs are worked through and very catchy. No question there. Anyone who's into ELUVEITIE, FINNTROLL and TURISAS will probably love this record and then it will be a nice addition to the Folk Metal collection. But if you're not into the type of Metal with traditional instruments I doubt this record will change your mind. The harsh vocals together with the flute draw the music more towards trolls and goblins rather than Vikings. It's sort of a shame because it's almost impossible to figure out what the lyrics are about without the booklet. And even with it, Danish is still very hard to figure out. Anyway, the record is a nice trip through Danish Folklore, history and mythology.

The language though isn't disturbing at all, maybe because of the harsh vocals or maybe because this type of Metal normally features bands native tongue or some odd ancient language that's impossible to understand unless you're deeply interested in the genre.

With "Mulmets Viser" SVARTSOT has put together a collection of happy songs. Not as much Humppa as their Finish genre-brothers but still very bouncy. They've still managed to vary the melodies enough to get the album as varied as it can be. Sure, they could have altered the tempo and overall feeling a little more but in general there's a red thread through it all. There are resemblances between all the melodies since the scales used are quite limited but still enough variation so it never feels melodies are reused. Also, there's a very nice drive straight through the album and they've managed to keep the music heavy even with the addition of all traditional acoustic instruments, without getting it too cheesy, very happy yes but still on a good level. The only thing that really annoys the hell out of me is a tiny little flute that takes over the whole sound picture too many times.

I do like Metal and I do like Folk Music but when they're blended together it tends to be a little too plucky for my taste.