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09-20-2005, 08:58 PM
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#4 (permalink) |
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Registered User
Location: Pittsburgh
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Alright, here we go:
Ulver - Kveldssanger This is Ulver's only album that is (completely) folk. Other albums vary from black metal to trip hope to ambient... One of the very best Norse folk albums I've ever heard. There isn't much singing on the album, except for occasional (although 2/14 songs are A Capella, hell one song is titled A Capella) chamber singing in some (ancient?) Norse tongue. Brilliant album, great atmosphere. What's amazing is that they were in their teens when they recorded this... Empyrium - Weiland, Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays Two great albums, very similar to Kveldssanger in style, although the singing, while just as sparse, is now not as strong and the lyrics are in German. Tenhi - Vare, Kauan Not quite as Norse sounding as the above two, I get more of an eastern-European feel, but still extremely good stuff. I'm not sure what language it's in, but the singing is again pretty rare, and sort of in between the styles of Empyrium and Ulver. Agalloch - The Mantle, Pale Folklore These two albums, unlike the above, incorporate actual metal into the songs. It's pretty much a 50/50 split between folk and metal (although The Mantle is much more folk and post-rock than metal). The atmosphere, though, is the most dreary, depressing, snowy winter day kind of stuff that I've ever heard. Huge nature vibes, perfect for dark folky music. The singing, though, is pretty bad. Fortunately, there often isn't much of it. Sometimes it's kind of a high black metal growl (although he's comprehensable, unlike a lot of BM), other times it's a nasal clean singing voice. The music, however, is incredible, and the band members are very intelligent (one is a literature/film professor at the University of Portland) and a lot of the lyrics are excepts from Robert Frost poems. Uaral - Sounds of Pain Predominantly folk, but there is a bit of growling and some doom metal going on too. The singing is decent, similar to Tenhi, except more frequent and I believe in Spanish (Uaral hail from Chile). The music is much like Ulver and Empyrium, very Norse sounding. October Falls - Marras, Tuoni Excellent instrumental stuff. Similar to Ulver and Empyrium, but no vocals whatsoever. Fejd - Huldran, I en Tid Som Var This is very different from everything above. It's very livey, happy almost. I get a kind of Pirate or Leprechaun vibe sometimes, actually. Some people have said it reminds them of Riverdance, but whatever. You can download these albums for free from Fejd's own website: http://www.fejd.se/eng/index.htm Nest - Woodsmoke Also very different from everything above. Very dreary, ambient stuff. Again with the black, snowy night in the middle of the forest kind of thing. There's no guitar playing, though. I believe they use an ancient Norse instrument similar to the guitar, though, and it has a very cold, distinct sound. Unfortunately, this genre is pretty barren (why?! it's so good!) and those are about the only bands/albums I know of. If you have trouble finding any of this, let me know and I'd be happy to send over AIM or whatever. |
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| Tags |
| band, folk, metal, nordic, original, performed, song |
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