Amalie Bruun has always defied convention and expectation, she has weathered many storms surrounding her gender and whether she was 'cvlt' enough to be considered a black metal artist. But the thing is she's never been 'just' a black metal artist, her music has always been deeply rooted in the folk traditions of both her native Denmark and from around the world, it was only a matter of time before she released a folk-only album as anyone who saw her tour from the end of 2019 would know due to it's split nature of an acoustic first half and full metal second. Amalie dealt with her nightmares on her previous record so Folkesange is her album of catharsis, using these long sung tales of nature, hope and rites of passage blending traditional folks songs from around the globe with her own musical numbers like the beautiful Leaves Of Yggdrasil named for the novel dealing with rune mythology surrounding femininity and lore.
For the uninitiated much of this record may sound musically familiar to that of Enya or Clannad (though a cover of Harry's Game would have been brilliant) much of this is due to Amalie's ethereal vocals that soar above the traditional instrumentation. However for anyone with a bit more breadth of knowledge about folk music you can hear that Amalie has researched music from far and wide not just her native country of wider Scandinavia, as such with her vocals at the forefront the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. With musical collaboration from Heilung member Christopher Juul we get some haunting melodies such as Tor I Helheim along with a bucket load of nyckelharpa, lyre, and mandola. The glorious Nyckelharpa driving opening number Ella it's an oft overlooked instrument reserved mainly for folk metal bands so it's great to hear it by itself. Folkesange is Amalie's spiritual rebirth, a blatant 'be gone' to the negativity she has been subjected too, using the ancient music to reconnect her with her roots as a musical artist. Stunning. 9/10
Jonathan Hultén: Chants From Another Place (Kscope Records) [Matt Bladen]
Clad in an Art Nouveau, self penned portrait of the artist Chants From Another Place is the debut full length solo album from Tribulation guitarist Jonathan Hultén following on from his 2017 EP. The album was recorded by Hultén in his home studio and it's this isolation that has made the album a brilliantly dark and introspective album where Hultén has drawn from folk and church choirs layering his vocals in self acapella pairing it with some beautiful fireside guitar playing on The Mountain as the open chords and claps really add those gospel sounds to Next Big Day. It's no wonder that Hultén was due to tour with Chelsea Wolfe in support of this album (before the plague hit) as he has really deeply followed that gothic folk tradition. Hultén takes these styles to their natural conclusions using just his deep vocals on the chanting Ostbjorka Brudlat while The Fleeting World is a delicate piano piece. It's not metal (much like Folkesange) but it is cast from shadows and twisted through the avant-garde artistic vision of it's creator for an ideal companion of nordic nights and periods of self reflection. 7/10
Imperial Child: Compass Of Evil (Soulmaker Recordings) [Simon Black]
So, the negative first (and to be fair I say this in a lot of reviews of new bands) a word to the wise boys if you are reading this: you need a web page (and I mean more than just a Facebook page) to get yourself out there, and yes, it’s a chore to maintain, and one of you will no doubt have to learn how to do it from scratch, but it’s a necessary evil because you guys need to get the message out ASAP, ‘cos your sitting on dynamite.
This little gem is the debut album from a young Norwegian Prog Metal outfit Imperial Child, and I am gobsmacked that there only three of them. It’s a concept piece as is often the case in the genre, and it would seem the first part of a larger story … again common for the genre, but unlike so many attempts at this concept actually works as a story and as a single composition. The subject matter is tonally picks up where Maiden’s Rhyme Of the Ancient Mariner left off, but the music is far more varied in style. It’s metal when it needs to be, it’s got some lovely technical moments, some nice slow tempo mood touches, a cracking ballad and an nice epic to close with. The protagonist is one William Green (deceased, and slightly decomposed judging by the cover), yer actual devil, a villainous buccaneer known as Darren Half-eye, oh and a love interest called Priscilla.
Kicking off with the usual cheesy intro track, title track The Imperial Child is solid power metal stuff, and gets the album going nicely, and from the get go you are going to notice Chris DeWolf’s striking vocals. He’s got a good range, nice timbre, can give it some when needed but pulls back to hold your attention when he needs it (although I’m not sure about some of the top end screams on The Quest For Jerusalem, which feel a bit forced. Throughout we get a fair amount of variety, but single Priscilla is the radio friendly hit, and has a nice video to go with on YouTube, and is an absolute cracker.
For a prog metal band, they aren’t overly ostentatious either, which although it definitely has its place, can be a distraction and a turn off for some. There’s some great technical instrumental work, but it doesn’t get in the way of the overall effect, and flourishes when a flourish is needed. I suspect that this is down to the fact that they don’t have a full time credited keyboard player in the line up, with lead vocalist/guitarist/tea boy Chris DeWolf picking up that role alongside his other hats, so you aren’t going to get duelling solos between those two instruments for a while. But as well as having great pipes, he can play the six string and 88 keys pretty darn well too.
This is definitely one of those albums that’s going to work played in its entirety live, and I really hope that we can get to see that in this album cycle somewhere, despite the best attempts of the current pandemic to stifle the live scene. Failing that these guys (and many other) need your support on their Bandcamp page. 9/10
Nils Patrik Johansson: The Great Conspiracy (Metalville Records) [Simon Black]
So, whilst still fronting both Astral Doors and Lion’s Share, Johansson has somehow found time to pull a second solo album out of the hat, and one with a subject matter which is for the Swedish what the Kennedy assassination was to the USA. It’s fascinating reading, and concerns the murder of Olof Palme in 1986 – a man who was twice Prime Minister in Sweden, and a controversial figure who spoke out against the bully boy tactics of various global actors and was murdered on the streets of Stockholm, in an age and country so safe that he and his wife gave no thought to walking home from the cinema without any kind of security detail, only to be shot in the back – an act for which no guilty party has ever been found.
It’s a brave subject for a concept album to tackle, particularly when most of the world is not familiar with the history, but then good power metal bands have never been shy of taking on lofty and challenging concepts. And tackle it well. This is a really solid album, unafraid to play with the song structures in order to tell the story clearly and throws in all sorts of unexpected musical moments that catch you off guard and force you to listen more closely. Lyrically this plays the same game too, and it’s not all serious doom and gloom – check out March Of The Tin Foil Hats as being a notable example of both techniques (and yes you did read that title correctly).
Will it work live? Possibly, but only if you get to see the whole thing performed in its entirety I guess. Many of the songs are catchy, but it really is Johansson’s distinctive and ear-catching voice that makes this album work and pull all the experimental elements together into a cohesive manner. Throw in some solid heavy production and you get an album that flows from start to finish, and ready to play again to unpick more of the complexity from the story. 7/10
Jonathan Hultén: Chants From Another Place (Kscope Records) [Matt Bladen]
Clad in an Art Nouveau, self penned portrait of the artist Chants From Another Place is the debut full length solo album from Tribulation guitarist Jonathan Hultén following on from his 2017 EP. The album was recorded by Hultén in his home studio and it's this isolation that has made the album a brilliantly dark and introspective album where Hultén has drawn from folk and church choirs layering his vocals in self acapella pairing it with some beautiful fireside guitar playing on The Mountain as the open chords and claps really add those gospel sounds to Next Big Day. It's no wonder that Hultén was due to tour with Chelsea Wolfe in support of this album (before the plague hit) as he has really deeply followed that gothic folk tradition. Hultén takes these styles to their natural conclusions using just his deep vocals on the chanting Ostbjorka Brudlat while The Fleeting World is a delicate piano piece. It's not metal (much like Folkesange) but it is cast from shadows and twisted through the avant-garde artistic vision of it's creator for an ideal companion of nordic nights and periods of self reflection. 7/10
Imperial Child: Compass Of Evil (Soulmaker Recordings) [Simon Black]
So, the negative first (and to be fair I say this in a lot of reviews of new bands) a word to the wise boys if you are reading this: you need a web page (and I mean more than just a Facebook page) to get yourself out there, and yes, it’s a chore to maintain, and one of you will no doubt have to learn how to do it from scratch, but it’s a necessary evil because you guys need to get the message out ASAP, ‘cos your sitting on dynamite.
This little gem is the debut album from a young Norwegian Prog Metal outfit Imperial Child, and I am gobsmacked that there only three of them. It’s a concept piece as is often the case in the genre, and it would seem the first part of a larger story … again common for the genre, but unlike so many attempts at this concept actually works as a story and as a single composition. The subject matter is tonally picks up where Maiden’s Rhyme Of the Ancient Mariner left off, but the music is far more varied in style. It’s metal when it needs to be, it’s got some lovely technical moments, some nice slow tempo mood touches, a cracking ballad and an nice epic to close with. The protagonist is one William Green (deceased, and slightly decomposed judging by the cover), yer actual devil, a villainous buccaneer known as Darren Half-eye, oh and a love interest called Priscilla.
Kicking off with the usual cheesy intro track, title track The Imperial Child is solid power metal stuff, and gets the album going nicely, and from the get go you are going to notice Chris DeWolf’s striking vocals. He’s got a good range, nice timbre, can give it some when needed but pulls back to hold your attention when he needs it (although I’m not sure about some of the top end screams on The Quest For Jerusalem, which feel a bit forced. Throughout we get a fair amount of variety, but single Priscilla is the radio friendly hit, and has a nice video to go with on YouTube, and is an absolute cracker.
For a prog metal band, they aren’t overly ostentatious either, which although it definitely has its place, can be a distraction and a turn off for some. There’s some great technical instrumental work, but it doesn’t get in the way of the overall effect, and flourishes when a flourish is needed. I suspect that this is down to the fact that they don’t have a full time credited keyboard player in the line up, with lead vocalist/guitarist/tea boy Chris DeWolf picking up that role alongside his other hats, so you aren’t going to get duelling solos between those two instruments for a while. But as well as having great pipes, he can play the six string and 88 keys pretty darn well too.
This is definitely one of those albums that’s going to work played in its entirety live, and I really hope that we can get to see that in this album cycle somewhere, despite the best attempts of the current pandemic to stifle the live scene. Failing that these guys (and many other) need your support on their Bandcamp page. 9/10
Nils Patrik Johansson: The Great Conspiracy (Metalville Records) [Simon Black]
So, whilst still fronting both Astral Doors and Lion’s Share, Johansson has somehow found time to pull a second solo album out of the hat, and one with a subject matter which is for the Swedish what the Kennedy assassination was to the USA. It’s fascinating reading, and concerns the murder of Olof Palme in 1986 – a man who was twice Prime Minister in Sweden, and a controversial figure who spoke out against the bully boy tactics of various global actors and was murdered on the streets of Stockholm, in an age and country so safe that he and his wife gave no thought to walking home from the cinema without any kind of security detail, only to be shot in the back – an act for which no guilty party has ever been found.
It’s a brave subject for a concept album to tackle, particularly when most of the world is not familiar with the history, but then good power metal bands have never been shy of taking on lofty and challenging concepts. And tackle it well. This is a really solid album, unafraid to play with the song structures in order to tell the story clearly and throws in all sorts of unexpected musical moments that catch you off guard and force you to listen more closely. Lyrically this plays the same game too, and it’s not all serious doom and gloom – check out March Of The Tin Foil Hats as being a notable example of both techniques (and yes you did read that title correctly).
Will it work live? Possibly, but only if you get to see the whole thing performed in its entirety I guess. Many of the songs are catchy, but it really is Johansson’s distinctive and ear-catching voice that makes this album work and pull all the experimental elements together into a cohesive manner. Throw in some solid heavy production and you get an album that flows from start to finish, and ready to play again to unpick more of the complexity from the story. 7/10
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