Grand Magus: Iron Will (2008) 02/24/2009
Posted by scrambledface in Metal.Tags: Doom Metal, Pagan, Traditional Metal
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Although doom and traditional heavy metal bands have their younger adherents, you’re more likely to see short-haired IT guys and skullets in their crowds. That’s because these were the types of metal spawned during the genre’s early days, the ’70s and ’80s, before downtuned speed and indecipherable vocals became prevalant among youngsters seeking the most extreme music they could find. I was lucky enough to come into metal fandom during the late ’80s, so while I’m able to appreciate a well-executed blastbeat and subterranean growl, I can just as easily enjoy a hooky riff and powerful “clean” singing. Sweden’s Grand Magus do have old-school appeal, in that there’s nothing very modern in their music, but that does not make them pure “dad rock.” They started as a more American-sounding doom band (read: lead-heavy blues, Pentagram/St. Vitus/Trouble style), but have evolved into a more melodious Eurometal beast, evoking the Dio years of Black Sabbath more than the Ozzy ones, with a heavy helping of pagan lyrical themes that are at once timeless and conveniently contemporary. Iron Will, the trio’s fourth album, begins and ends with massive Viking riffs, “Like the Oar Strikes the Water” and “I Am the North” as well as the title track riding manly seafaring surges untainted by gothic frills. They occasionally pick up the pace (“Fear Is the Key,” “The Shadow Knows”), and even hearken back to their early days with the Candlemass-y double-whammy of “Self Deceiver” and “Beyond Good and Evil.” What makes Iron Will truly supreme is the hearty leather-lunged wail of guitarist Janne “JB” Christoffersson (also of Spiritual Beggars, the stoner rock faves featuring Carcass/Arch Enemy axeman Michael Amott and Opeth keyboardist Per Wiberg). Vintage and emotional, that voice is as metal is it gets, and, yes, your dad might like it, too.
“Like the Oar Strikes the Water” (at Metal Rock Fest, Lillehammer, 8/16/08)
Finsterforst: Wiege der Finsternis (2006) 02/21/2009
Posted by scrambledface in Metal.Tags: Black Metal, Ethnic, Pagan
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In recent years, the most interesting corner of the nebulous metal scene has been the explosion of bands incorporating traditional folk music. This largely started in Scandinavia as a pagan offshoot of 1990s black metal, which encouraged a return to pre-Christian ideals through romantic notions of atavism and nationalism. The movement gained momentum in former Eastern Bloc countries, where native cultures had been suppressed under Communist rule, and quickly spread throughout Europe as the threat of homogenization loomed under the banner of modernity and globalization. At its ugliest, ethnically-focused metal can be a vehicle for kneejerk xenophobia and esoteric racism, and at its most trivial, it can simply be an excuse to get drunk and wax nostalgic for an era in which its adherents would ultimately find life exceedingly difficult or boring. Finsterforst, from southwestern Germany, fall into neither of those categories. Their tunes lean toward the most accessible end of black metal, with both keyboards and a real accordion pumping up their beerhall guitar melodies and raspy native-tongue vocals. Their out-of-print, self-released debut EP, Wiege der Finsternis (“Cradle of Darkness”), is a great place to start in both Finsterforst’s catalog and the subgenre itself. At 26 minutes, it contains only three tracks, each long enough to weave pastoral interludes among its high-energy material. These guys provide jaunty fun as well as an idealized, brooding old-world flavor, appropriately conjuring the Black Forest that both shadowed their upbringing and provided their band’s name. As one of the most engaging, ready-for-prime-time acts in Germany’s thriving folk metal scene, here’s hoping their upcoming second album, …Zum Tode Hin, catapults Finsterforst to the same level of fame enjoyed by the genre’s (generally Finnish) superstars.
“Schatten der Nacht” (at Skullcrusher, Dresden, 12/22/08)
Scrambled Face 