Having previously reviewed their debut album, Ahnenthron, and enjoying it quite a bit, this new release from Thrudvangar sounded right up my alley.
This German horde is cruising upon Viking metal land and seas, as portrayed on the cover art. Their take on Viking music is based on a powerful sound structure. This is where crushing guitar work, strong bass lines, kicking drums, epic keyboards and deep rasps rule. Yes, they do use keyboards, but not in any cheesy way. They simply add a nice melodic and epic touch to their Viking- ness. The pace varies from moderate to fast, a fact that I personally appreciate. The musicianship is good and the compositions are elaborate. This type of barbarian music is in your face while always staying melodious. Then, why am I not excited about this album? It has to do with the lack of variation and spice in their songwriting. Well, a couple tracks have classical guitar parts and some spoken words, namely: "Leif-der Gewalten Gabe" and "Sein letzer Ritt". In general though, they all stick pretty much to the same formula. Don't get me wrong here, taken separately, none are bad in any ways. In the second half, I felt less interested by a few compositions for that reason. In the end, this felt like a good album without getting as thrilling as what I've heard from Bifröst for example. Nonetheless, this barbarian Viking opus contains quite a few tasty tracks such as: "Intro", "Tholdhil's Gunst", "Habichtsal", "Holmgang" and the two above mentioned songs.
Track listing:
1 – Intro
2 – Thorvald's Tod
3 – Tholdhild's Gunst
4 – Habichtsal
5 – Leif-der Gewalten Gabe
6 – Holmgang
7 – Lüge, Verrat und Meineid
8 – Ochseninsel
9 – Der Schwerter klingen
10 – Thornesthing
11 – Überfahrt
12 – Am Ende eines Fjords
13 – Sein letzter Ritt
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
