Finntroll – Nifelvind
Releasedate: 19-02-2010
Recordlabel: Century Media Records

Being a Finntroll fan, I couldn’t wait for Nifelvind to come out. Especially since their last album Ur Jordens Djup headed more towards the black metal.
The beginning of Nifelvind has this kind of sound too. The first song, Blodmarsch (Intro) sounds very promising. It has the typical trollish sound of Finntroll and it makes you want to listen to the rest of the cd as soon as possible. Since this song takes only two minutes, the listener doesn’t have to wait long.
The second song of the album, Solsagan, was already released with it’s videoclip a couple of weeks ago. It can’t stay unnoticed that this song and the clip show some similarities with the previous clip, from the Ur Jordens Djup album, Nedgång. The beginning of it is blackish, but during the song it fades away.
The third song (Den Frusna Munnen) surprised me. First thing that came into my mind when this song started was ‘Disney’. As every child, I watched a lot of Disney movies when I was younger, and the similarities between the music of those Disney movies, and the beginning of this song is shocking! That being said, the rest of the song is okay. Main thing is that the tempo of the track is slower. The black metal sound with which the cd started has almost disappeared here.
The same for song number four: Ett Norrskensdåd. It’s not the most memorable tune on the album. Not a bad song, but certainly not the best.
With the fifth song, I Trädens Sång, the speed comes back a bit in the songs, which is a good thing. This is the first time I hear the famous on stage ‘Aye Aye’ recorded on a album. More scream and sing-a-long parts for the fans!
The next song, Tiden Utan Tid, is a bit more complicated. The song starts with an intro, and slowly continues into the song. Though it’s a slow song, it seems to include all the typical Finntroll sounds. I could almost say that this song is kind of a summary of all the previous albums. Towards the end, the song becomes more epic. Though it’s a great song, I think you have to listen more to it than once or twice to really judge and appreciate it, because it didn’t convince me yet.
And then there is Galgasång. A song you don’t expect on this album while you’re listening to it so far. Being an acoustic song this track doesn’t sound like any of the other songs, but it’s beautiful. The song reminded me of so many things that I couldn’t found out what this song does to me, in a positive way!
The beginning of Mot Skuggornas Värld, the eight song, has a familiar sound, but it wasn’t Finntroll I was thinking of. The first thing that came into my mind was: this sounds a lot like Nightwish!! Asking some other people, it seemed that I’m not the only one who had these strange thoughts. But this ‘Nightwish sound’ disappears fast and we can listen to a great track for the remaining minutes. This tune is definitely one of my personal favourites.
The next song, Under Bergets Rot, has also been released before the album came out. I haven’t really listened to it before, but I have to say, this track is exactly what Finntroll stands for. It is a nice song, and most definitely a great track to perform live!
Tenth song, Fornfamnad, isn’t one of my favourites. For some reason I’m losing my attention while listening to this track. It’s great as a background tune though.
Last song, Dråp, is great to end this album with. Because of the many aspects and elements in this song it grasps your attention, being curious all the time of what’s coming next!
The little bonus at the end reminds me of Disney again. Maybe Finntroll want to create a new genre in metal namely Disney-metal?

Conclusion:
Though this is a good album, it’s not the best album Finntroll made. It sounds a bit different than the other albums, but also the same, because it doesn’t lose the typical Finntroll sound. Even though most of the songs sound pretty much the same, this isn’t disturbing. The album has some stronger songs, but unfortunately also some weaker ones. The first time I heard it I wasn’t sure about the album, but I have to confess I like it more and more everytime I have listened to it, and it’s totally worth buying it!

Line up:

Mathias “Vreth” Lillmåns : Vocals
Mikael “Routa” Karlbom : Guitars
Samuli “Skrymer” Ponsimaa : Guitars
Sami “Tundra” Uusitalo : Bass
Henri “Trollhorn” Sorvali : Keyboards
Samu “Beast Dominator” Ruotsalainen : Drums

Tracklist:

1.Blodmarsch (Intro) (2:12)
2. Solsagan (4:32)
3. Den Frusna Munnen (4:05)
4. Ett Norrskensdåd (3:35)
5. I Trädens Sång (3:45)
6. Tiden Utan Tid (4:58)
7. Galgasång (3:45)
8. Mot Skuggornas Värld (4:44)
9. Under Bergets Rot (3:28)
10. Fornfamnad (3:43)
11. Dråp (7:01)
(12. Under Dvärgens Fot (3:32))

Reviewer: Ingrid