Towards The Gates Of North
Wolfhorde
•
August 25, 2016
Sometimes you come across a band you never heard about and it blows you away. In the immortal words of Bruce Dickinson in the song ''The Wickerman'' on Brave New World: ''He Knocks You To Your Feet and What Are You Gonna Do''. This was a pretty damn good discovery on my part and these types of albums are the reason why I do reviews. You may review alot of crap or bands out of your comfort zone but this was just awesome.
It's a mix of traditional Folk Metal (hence the fact they use Traditional Instruments on most of their songs) and a bit of Black Metal here and there. As for the Black Metal part, it's more or less the vocals that lean towards that direction but it's not a constant focal point of the songs. The first song reminded me of background music on older Role Playing Games when I was a bit younger. It also reminded me of the greatness of SYG: AR:TYR as well.
They are veterans of the Metal scene in Finland and have been at it since the early 2000s. They used more Traditional Instruments on this release that in any previous album to note. I like the fact that the keyboards are more or less in the background and not at the forefront of most of the songs. It gives you a great atmosphere to say the least. It gives alot of depth to these songs.
Nothing is overused on this album, all instruments have their place and purpose. You can hear the instruments very well and the production is pretty much top notch as well. I guess that this band reminded me alot of the new direction that ENSLAVED has taken in their last few albums but mixed with the musicality of a band like TYR. They mix both styles adequately and it makes for a great album.
The sign of a good album is you wanna listen to it on a regular basis. You look in your album or cd list and you say, yeah, I would love to listen to this again. Well this album fits well with that description. An excellent release from this rather unknown band. I expect big things from them in the future
9 / 10
Almost Perfect
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Towards The Gates Of North" Track-listing:
1. Vegvísir
2. Fimbulvetr
3. Taivaankappaleiden kato
4. Death Long-Due
5. The Retribution
6. Unyielding
7. Boundless Agony
8. Lycomania
9. The Gates of North
Wolfhorde Lineup:
Nuoskajalka - Bass
Hukkapätkä - Vocals, Drums
Werihukka - Guitar, Traditional instruments, Keyboards
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