Releasedate: March 25th 2013
Recordlabel: Century Media
By: Ingrid
Every time when I listen to, or watch a live show from Finntroll, I wonder why I don’t listen to this band more often. They are one of the first metal bands that I liked when I was still an unknowing teenager who had just stepped in the world of metal, and I still can’t get enough of them. Their trollish humppa folk black metal is always recognizable, and always guarantees a good party.
The sound of Finntroll is, and stayed familiar with the release of Blodsvept, though it seems that the influences they get outside of the world of metal, are growing bigger with each album that they are releasing. For example this album is filled with brass instruments, and you can influences of Edvard Grieg’s ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ through the entire album.
The album starts with title track Blodsvept. Finntroll already released this song last month as a sneak preview of the album for the fans. The song builds a nice bridge between Nifelvind and the new album. It could easily have been put on the previous album and nevertheless also is a great introduction for Blodsvept.
Ett Folk Förbannat is dominated by its great keyboard lines and nice riffs. It is great and very melodic. I already imagine one big dancing moshpit, when they are going to play this song live.
Talking about playing live: it took me almost half the song to realize why När Jättar Marschera sounded so familiar. Finntroll already played this song live during their performances at the Heidenfest shows in the Fall of 2012! The song is a bit more in a slow tempo, but perfect for headbanging!
The influences of the brass instruments that I mentioned earlier become clear in Mordminnen, where Finntroll turns themselves into a ‘big band’. The combination of the metal with the big band sounds great! But the happy sound of this song is a total contradiction to its lyrics, which are about murder. The same sound continues through the next songs. In Rosets Kung, a banjo is added, and even though the album for once is not about trolls, the trollish sound still shines through. Big band humppa would be a nice definition for it, and Skogsdotter would be the perfect song to symbolize this genre.
When Häxbrygd started, I felt like I was dragged into the evil side of a fairytale. Not that surprising, since the translation of the song title is ‘Witch’s Brew’.
Två Ormar, Fanskapsfylld and Midvinterdraken remind me more of the older work from Finntroll. We get less big band, and a more the blackish and raw humppa sound, such as we are used to from the first albums. It’s a perfect balance between the dark sound, and the melodic sound in which the keyboard plays the main role.
Overall, I can’t conclude anything else than that this has become an absolute great album. Finntroll stayed true to their own sound, but still knows how to surprise! The adding of the big band gives an awesome twist to this album. But still the sound also stayed black and raw as well. The same for the vocals; they sound a bit more aggressive as well.
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Rating: 95/100
Tracklist:
01. Blodsvept
02. Ett Folk Förbannat
03. När Jättar Marschera
04. Mordminnen
05. Rösets Kung
06. Skövlarens Död
07. Skogsdotter
08. Häxbrygd
09. Två Ormar
10. Fanskapsfylld
11. Midvinterdraken