There Can Be Only One.

No, this is not a post about the movie 'Highlander'...I will save my snarky comments about hiring a French guy to play a Scotsman and then hiring a Scottish guy to play a Spaniard for some other venue.

Though you gotta admit, that IS pretty metal.

It's also not about Queen.

Recently Also, Wolves commenter 'Unthar' asked me (in this post) "Is there a 'must have' folk metal album you'd recommend?" I rattled off a list of a few standards (Korpiklaani, Moonsorrow, et cetera, et cetera) but the question would not leave me alone.  It settled in my skull like a brain parasite.

Also metal but mostly just gross.

I've been thinking and thinking about it.  If it came down to it, and I could only recommend one single solitary album to represent and epitomize the varied and eclectic 'genre' of folk metal, what would it be? Does such an album actually exist?

The answer is yes.  Yes it does.  And this is that album.

Finntroll - "Nattfödd"

I make no secret of my homoerotic fanboy love of this band.  Hell, I'm not "Trollfiend" because I like baiting people in internet forums (okay, mostly not).  Heavy enough to be called black metal, goofy enough to be called polka metal, Finntroll is really in my mind what all good folk metal should aspire to be like.  I'm not saying that they are better or worse than bands like Moonsorrow or Korpiklaani.  It's just that to my mind this  is what I think of and (usually) mean when I say FOLK METAL.

Finntroll - "Eliytres"

Narrowing it down to a single album out of 5 full-lengths and 2 EPs was not as tricky as I thought it would be...I wasn't looking for necessarily their BEST album, but the album that I thought best epitomized their sound, since their spectrum runs for almost pure black metal to metalesque folk.  Nattfödd does that for me; the blend of humppa (Finnish polka) and thunderchunking metal is perfect and seamless on this album like no other.

Finntroll - "Vindfärd/Människopesten"

Now you might argue that people who aren't fond of black metal (I know there must be one or two) probably won't dig this album or band because it's just too...well...black.  Don't worry, Finntroll's got you covered.

Finntroll - "Grottans Barn"

And of course we can't really mention Finntroll and not talk about THAT SONG.

I don't really need to title this one, do I?

So there you have it; despite my assurances to Unthar that choosing a single 'must have' folk metal album is impossible, I've done it.

I bask in your awe.

It's Raining Menhir.

Way back in 2011 a band from the Czech Republic called Odraedir released a demo titled "Pagan Forest".  To be honest, based on that alone, it's not likely that I would have paid much attention to this band.  Folk metal is big enough now that I don't have to jump on every single thing that floats downstream.  However, in this case, there is a connection to my childhood, and that is naturally going to grab my interest by the balls.

My childhood involved a lot of ball-grabbing, and the less said about that the better.

You ever heard of the Gauls? They were a tribe of Iron Age barbarians who ran afoul of the Romans in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE.  If you're like me (and be thankful you're not) your first introduction to the Gallic peoples was heralded by these two fellows:

Asterix and Obelix

Stars of a long running graphic novel series by silly French folk René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, Asterix and Obelix were a couple of Gauls who spent most of their time beating the ever-living shit out of the Roman legions and occasionally cheek-rubbing with historical celebs like Cleopatra and Julius Caesar.

"But what the fuck does this have to do with Czech metal?" I hear you screech.  In a word, this:

Odraedir - "Asterix and Obelix"

I listened to the rest of the tracks off this demo and my official opinion is that while rough around the edges, this band has a lot of potential, and not just because they suckered me with nostalgia.  It takes a lot more than memories of funny comics from my misspent yout' to draw me in.  Truth.  It also takes songs about booze.

Odraedir - "Fine Odraedir Mead"

I am a simple man with simple pleasures (including, but not limited to, ball-grabbing).  What more do you need in life than comics and booze and the occasional hearty scrotum-cupping? Why, doing all of those things IN MIGHTY ODIN'S NAME, of course.

Odraedir - "The Dawn Of Oden's Horde"

If you like any of these songs you can find them all and more over on Odraedir's FB page here.  Looks like they're doing the Dawn of Heathen Warriors tour in March so hopefully that means they'll be taking off soon. I would definitely be into a full length/studio album from these guys.

NIBURTA!

It's criminal that I've had my blog up for as long as I have and yet have not featured this awesome band.  Criminal, I say!

Annie are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?

So yeah, Niburta is an eight(ish) member group from Hungary that incorporates everything from throat-singing to clean female vocals to death metal to jaw harps to core to flute to bagpipes to something called a 'tilinkó'...sweet mother of crap, this band does everything.  Honestly, there's so much going on here it's amazing that the result is not just a catastrophic mish-mash of noise.  But as a testament to their musical skill, it works.  It more than works; it fucking rules.

Niburta - "Awakening"

Seriously, it's hard to genrify this band, which is why the generic term "folk metal" comes in handy (though it seems they identify themselves as "folk/metalcore").  But I think pinning them to a specific subgenre is really doing them a disservice.  For example, this here is hardly what I'd call "metalcore".

Niburta - "Forebear's Dance"

It does get metally close to the end, but that's pretty much a damn folk song right there.  Also, bagpipes.  And catchy as fuck.  Did I mention catchy? Niburta's songs jump into your skull, nestle next to your brain, and basically camp out in there for weeks.

Seriously, when was the last time you heard a great metal song that started with fucking humming?

Niburta - "Nap És Hold"

This band is actively looking for a label.  And since I know there are dozens...nay, hundreds...of music industry types scanning my blog on a daily basis: one of you punk bastards jump on this band RIGHT NOW!!

By the by, you can stream and download pretty much everything from their 2010 demo 'Eredet' and their 2011 EP 'Awakening' here at their Reverbnation page.

You Will Never Find A More Wretched Hive Of Scum And Villainy.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.

I'd like to say it's because I, like a diligent little cave troll, have been busy scouring the dark and night-haunted caverns of the internet for amazing treasure-troves of metal to share with you (although if you find a nice gold ring I'd appreciate it if you'd hand that over...it's something very precious to me).

"What has it got in its pocketses?"

Sadly, the truth is far more prosaic: I've been spending every waking moment (and some near-comatose ones) playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, the recently released (and truly epic) MMO from Lucasarts and Bioware.

This shit pretty much eats epic for breakfast.

Believe it or not, this is actually sort of relevant.  And don't worry, there will be metal before the end of this post.

I got into Star Wars sometime around the age of 7...for those of you counting, that would have been in 1977, the year the "first" movie was released...and was pretty much obsessed with it until about 15, coincidentally in the early 80's, when I started getting into metal.  Also somewhere around that time I read "The Hero With A Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell.  For those of you not familiar with the book, it basically deals with the universality of mythology and how mythological tales follow a similar pattern despite being culturally and geographically unrelated.  I read the book because it looked like it had something to do with Star Wars (as I recall there was a picture of Luke on the cover in his stolen Stormtrooper armour).  As it turned out, this particular re-release and update of Campbell's work used Star Wars as an example of mythological universality...and as it also turned out that Campbell and George Lucas were old friends.  In fact the legendary interview of Campbell by Bill Moyer that eventually became "The Power Of Myth" took place at Lucas' Skywalker Ranch.

"Bill...I am your father."

This moment was a pivotal one in my life, because it was the moment I got hooked on mythology and folklore.  So in a weird way, Star Wars is responsible for my love and obsession with folk metal.  And while sci-fi and folk don't usually mix, it's important to note that, in Star Wars at least, despite the space travel and robots and laser guns, everything still all comes down to the wizard and the guy with the magic sword.

Now what I really wanted to do was find some kind of Star Wars themed folk metal to share with you, but if you can believe it, such a thing does not appear to exist.  If you're a fan of power and/or mostly instrumental metal lightly scented with melodeath then you might enjoy Anchorhead...

Anchorhead - "Shredisode IV"

...but otherwise the offerings are pretty sparse.  Anyone out there musically inclined? There's an unexplored niche here.  I'll happily write lyrics if you can play something.

So since I couldn't find anything like that, I will share with you something that is culturally and geographically unrelated, a tasty little nugget I found while Trolling the filthy sewage-waters of YouTube.

Ch'aska - "Bicolour Cannibalism"

This is a chunk of folk/death from, of all places, Peru.  Ch'aska released a couple of demos and their first full length, 'Puruauca', came out in 2009.  I can't find anything to indicate if they have anything else coming out soon or if they're even still together, but I really dig this track so I hope there will be news of that ilk soon.  I'll keep you posted.

Until then, be cautious, and always travel single file to hide your numbers.

Saudi Sunday.

Folk, pagan, and Viking metal are a bit tricky to genrify.  I've already said my piece on Viking metal here; but similar problems occur with 'pagan' metal (again, it's a lyrical theme) and to a lesser extent, folk.  Now arguably 'folk metal' is the only true 'genre' here - it represents a specific musical sound and/or style, that is: music with traditional folk melodies, rhythms, and/or instruments - but even with that solid categorization, it can be pretty hard to pin down what 'counts'.  Exempli gratia: black metal.  So much of what we call folk metal is pretty much black metal with an accordion.

And then you have bands like al-Namrood.

I'm a big fan of Middle Eastern music, even if it's not metal, though of course I prefer it when it is.  There are quite a few bands that incorporate Middle Eastern melodies and rhythms into their music, like the ever-popular Melechesh.

Melechesh - "Genies, Sorcerers, and Mesopotamian Nights"

However it's interesting to note that these bands very rarely if ever incorporate traditional instruments.  But you can tell a Middle Eastern-influenced song when you hear it, amirite?

Nile - "Wrought"

Anyway, al-Namrood is one of those bands that are undoubtedly black metal at its blackity blackness, but carrying a definite Middle Eastern sound.  They are from Saudi Arabia, so presumably they know what they're doing in that regard.

al-Namrood - "Wata'a Bakhtanasar"

Quite a bit more black than Melechesh, who sound almost peppy compared to these guys.  I'm not saying anything against Melechesh; they're one of my favourite bands.  But al-Namrood definitely has more of that ambient dark nihilism you expect from, say, Norway.

al-Namrood - "Hayat al-Khlood"

Are there even wolves in Saudi Arabia? Or bears with which to be punched in the face?  I don't know.  So to be on the safe side I'm going to say that al-Namrood is the musical equivalent to being pistol-whipped with a sack full of scorpions.

al-Namrood - "Ah'd al-Jahiliyah"

And yes, I'm totally calling this folk metal.  Suck flaming balls.

Something Is Rising, All Right, And It Ain't My Dynasty.

Word has it that epic Chinese-influenced folk metal giants Shangren are releasing a new album in 2012 entitled "Rise Of The Dynasty".  There's a teaser on the FB page, which you can check out here.  If you haven't heard this awesome blend of traditional Asian melodies and instruments with punishing metal and Leonard Ong's scathing black metal-style vocals you have been missing out on possibly the best folk metal act of the past year.  And since I love you all, here's a track from the debut/demo "Warriors Of Devastation".

Shangren - "Monkey King"

2012 is going to be a kick-ass year for folk metal, lords and ladies.  Lots of great new stuff is coming.  I predict much moistening of pantaloons in the near future.

I'm Gonna Folk You, Softly.

If you have even a modicum of interest in folk metal of any stripe, by now you've heard that Swiss melodic metallers Eluveitie have released a second song off their upcoming 'Helvetios' album (due in February), 'A Rose For Epona'.

Eluveitie - "A Rose For Epona"

Now of course you know that Epona is a Celtic horse goddess, the appearance of whom as a mare was a "bestower of sovereignty in the ancient Celtic rituals of kingship"¹. Now I'm not casting aspersions, but those selfsame rites often included marriage.

To a horse.

Okay, yes, a goddess in the FORM of a horse, but still.

If you go by the stories, Epona herself was the result of a union between man and mare.  This of course means that the Tijuana donkey show actually has its roots in ancient Britain, but more importantly it makes you wonder why Eluveitie is giving her a rose, which suggests that they want to court her.  Maybe they're trying to get some of that 'kingship ritual' action IF YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING.

It's a pretty solid song.  I went through a phase of listening only to female-fronted metal bands and if I'd heard this maybe a year ago I'd have been all over it.  Right now it's not totally in my zone, but since I purport to be a purveyor of all things folk metally, I'm a lay it on you anyway.  Enjoy.

¹. "The New Book of Goddesses and Heroines" (2000) Monaghan, Patricia.

When Ice Crowns Your Face.

Raise your horns, you Viking fuckers.  Blackened pagan metal masters Theudho have a new album, "When Ice Crowns The Earth", coming out this month (Jan 15).  On a related note, how come more bands aren't named after runes?

Theudho - "Silence Reigned Over The Bog"

Less than two weeks away! Hail Wuotan!