Two years after releasing their debut album ‘Hereniging’, Dutch pagan metal band Alvader is releasing its second full lenght ‘Woede’. ‘Woede’ is the Dutch word for ‘fury’ so it’s no surprise that this album is themed around the anger and rage of the Allfather Wodan.
Alvader consists of experienced musicians known from (former)Heidevolk, Thronar, Bezwering and Wederganger, and therefore it wasn’t a surprise that their first release was already a solid album.
Listening to ‘Woede’, however, the first thing to notice is that the band clearly has matured, and the musicians are more attuned to each other. Where ‘Hereniging’ felt more like a collection of separate songs, ‘Woede’ feels a solid unit, and a concept album. The sound is less chaotic and more well thought of; ‘cohesion’ would be the best way to describe it.
Contributing to this more stable and solid feeling of the album, is the fact that the vocals tend to go less ‘all over the place’, which makes it more pleasant to listen to. A great example is the song ‘Ongebroken’. I have to say I’m really impressed by the vocal lines and singer Joris his use of his voice in this song. There’s emotion, a lot of melody, but all is still in control and balanced. Same goes for ‘Eeuwig Weergekeerd’.
Where it was almost impossible to nót compare the general sound on ‘Hereniging’ to the older Heidevolk albums, with ‘Woede’, Alvader is stepping away from that and are on their way to creating a true sound of their own (though if you’ll ask me there will always be some ‘general folk Dutch folk metal vibe’ sound and feeling to the bands coming from this region).
With its 34 minutes and seven songs, it’s a relatively short album. Starting with the blow of a horn ‘Vaderland’ sets in and a wall of power is on its way. The band doesn’t waste any time and starts the album on high speed with raging guitar work and fast drums.
‘Als de rossen weer razen’ keeps the tempo up high but has a bit more melodic sound. It also reminds me more of the first album than ‘Vaderland’ did. Where I was complaining a bit about the backing vocals on the ‘Hereniging’, listening to songs like “Als de rossen weer razen’, ‘Rode waas’ and ‘sterven door staal’, the balance between the vocal lines has improved a lot.
‘Sterven door staal’ has me troubled. I’m not the biggest fan of the first half of the song. It feels too ‘forced to be epic’, the vocals are going all over the place, and the instrumental lines lack a bit of cohesion. A bit before we’re halfway though, this changes, the cohesion is back and the song indeed becomes epic. The choir repeating almost the same line again and again, gives you the chills as if witnessing the outcome of a battle where the fallen warriors are wanting to enter Wodan’s halls (hence the lines they’re singing…). It’s one of the best parts of the entire album.
I would like to conclude with almost the same words I started this review: with ‘Woede’, Alvader presents us with an album that shows that the band has matured in the past two years, and that they’re on the right track creating their own solid sound. The album is powerful, yet well balanced. I hope it opens the door for them to break further through in the folk/pagan metal scene, because they well deserve it.
Written by: Ingrid
Rating: 8.8/10
Self-released
Release date: April 24th 2026
Tracklist:
Vaderland
Als de rossen weer razen
Rode Waas
Ongebroken
In de naam der goden
Sterven door Staal
Eeuwig Weergekeerd
