Review Summary: album good
Go to the soundoff section for this album, and you’ll see comparisons to Moonsorrow. There’s that of course, but also an immediately evident resemblance to Moonspell. Lengthy, dark, symphonic sections are detailed with crushing guitars, and extraneous double bass. There is also Viking style, bass-y, rape and pillage singing. The result is a storytelling album, both engrossing, intimidating, and cheesy. Folksy, symphonic black metal isn’t particularly known for its subtlety, more known for its absurdly over-the-top theatrics, and Finsterforst are somewhere in the middle. The horns, however, are on the side of Equilibrium levels of cheese.
What fun indeed. While the riffs can be quite run of the mill, that does not translate to boring times. Great riffs also pop up such as the heavy, noodling opener for Fluch des Seins — my god, what sheer shreds. Throughout the album, a heavy hand on the mighty axe chops with the force of a demon fire hydrant. That, my friend, is what metal is about. The accordions only serve to fuel the fire of my raging inner nerd, and Viking riffs included equals extra rage. That being said, I am not inspired to rape anything.
The negatives are short. The singing though, does get a wee old. Let’s get back to the riffs, but no, the sung parts are dragged out. The singing itself is fine, but the hooks aren’t especially memorable. The same tones and melodies arise, predictably lovely, although a long fog. When the album goes in a riff heavy direction with guitar solos galore, it’s much more entertaining. However, as mentioned, the singing is lovely. If you have the time to let the vocals soak in your ears, it’ll lead to a day at the metal spa.
In summation, the album is a stomping metal album. Both the riffs and vocals have a nice deep tone, succulent and moist. The beats go brrrrr, and thus solid though not incredibly unique. In conclusive summations, if you enjoy black metal done well, with literally everything done right, you must have this on your list. Derivative? For sure, and they use their inspiration to slap.
Recommended tracks:
• they are all the same track, enjoy
