What will 2010 bring? New albums I'm looking forward to: Part 1

So, this year is already off to a storming start with quality releases by Finntroll, Bifröst, Blaze Bayley, Fear Factory, Ihsahn, Heidevolk, Metsatöll, Mustasch, Rotting Christ, Sigh, and many, many others.

This promising trend certainly looks to continue as the year wears on, with new albums still to come by the likes of Deftones, Sonic Syndicate, Cold, Spineshank, and the mighty Iron Maiden. This could certainly be a vintage year for rock/metal music, and it is certainly one that I am very much looking forward to.

The Maiden album alone should be the highlight of the year, especially when you consider the upward creative trajectory that the band has been on in the last decade....constantly evolving and adapting their style, not to fit in with or to pander to the mainstream, but to the ever-changing vision of Mr. Steve Harris. It could, however, be a bit of a bitter pill, as the band have stated for a number of years now that album number 15 would be their last, as well as comments alluding to the fact that they can’t go on forever, and that they are getting older. We will have to wait and see, but personally, I really doubt that Steve would want to give up while the band are scaling such creative heights or finally receiving some long overdue mainstream recognition and acceptance. He is just too driven as a musician and too stubborn to admit that he is done. Even if this does prove to be their swansong as far as recorded output is concerned, then we can still look forward to a few more years of touring, as they still have a lot of extravagant plans afoot as part of the ongoing theme of the re-imagining of classic tours from the band’s history.

Another album that I am excited about is the new Deftones release “Diamond Eyes”. After the slightly disappointing “Saturday Night Wrist”, this album has a lot of expectations riding on it, and I don’t have any doubt that Deftones can deliver. I expect that it will more of their brooding, introspective and often beautiful post-rock (not nu-metal by the way). From the two songs I have heard so far, this is already sounding like a masterpiece, although it is a bit early for predictions at this point. I suppose we will just have to wait and see.

As I mentioned earlier, we also have new albums by two recently reunited bands in Cold and Spineshank. To be honest, I will be approaching both of these with a little trepidation as both could realistically go either way creatively. Cold, in particular, had adopted a horrible Creed-lite sound on their last album, so I am really hoping that they will be looking to their first three albums or indeed, elsewhere for inspiration this time around. As for Spineshank, they had also taken a worrying swing in the wrong direction on their last album, but the (very) rough demo they posted online over a year ago now, was certainly very promising and displayed a much heavier sound than previous albums. I await both of these with much interest.

I am also very much looking forward to hearing the new album by Sonic Syndicate (their first with Nathan on vocals) in May. I have to be honest (sorry Nathan), but I wasn’t really impressed with the single “Burn This City”, as it was just that little bit too commercial. I have no issue with sing-a-long choruses or clean vocals, but this was just a step too far for me. I have high hopes for the album though, and am especially interested to hear what Nathan is going to bring to the table as far as the sound of the band is concerned. His vocals are far superior to the previous vocalist, and I know what he is capable of from his days with The Hollow Earth Theory. For that reason, and the fact that I love their previous album, “Love And Other Disasters”, I have no doubt that this will be their strongest album to date. Let’s look at the facts. They have a new (better) singer, so they will already feel the need to step up and to prove what they can do to a (no doubt) expectant and maybe even dubious fanbase, and Nuclear Blast also seem to be throwing their full weight behind the band. If they have faith in them, I think we can all rest easy knowing that this will be a great album. Roll on May.

Finntroll - Nifelvind

This is my first attempt at anything even approaching a review, so please bear with me. I welcome any (constructive) comments on my style or how I can improve my writing (without doing a journalism degree). So...onto the review:

Nifelvind is the latest album by folk metal masters, Finntroll, released in February 2010. It is an ambitious and brave project, seemlessly blending black metal, film soundtrack, carnival music, traditional Scandinavian music and Grieg's Peer Gynt, with stunning ease.

There is obviously a huge leap forward here, in terms of the musical experimentation that the band have always teased at, with the use of new instruments such as the kazoo and even the xylophone(!), along with plenty of seemingly insane time-changes. The heavier parts are heavier, and the folk parts are, well, folkier than on previous records (with the obvious exception of the acoustic album "Visor Om Slutet"). This all makes for a far more positive and upbeat affair than "Ur Jordens Djup", which many fans found lacklustre and lacking in the usual atmosphere (and fun) of a Finntroll release. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this album has more of the feel you would expect from a fantasy film soundtrack or from a Broadway musical, and it flows accordingly. It almost seems as this is telling a story, with crazy moments of exciting, bombastic music being followed instantly, by slower, almost ballad-esque songs....before you are once again thrown headlong, back into the travelling circus, without being given a chance to fully digest what is happening. It is definitely pulse-raising and smile inducing-stuff. This is easily the most accessible, and dare I say, "commercial" Finntroll album, but don't let that put you off, as it is also their most complete work to date, with absolutely no filler tracks. Kudos must be given to the mastermind (ring-master?) of this band of musical lunatics, Trollhorn, for his vision and for having the passion to fully explore what this band are capable of, and then pulling it off in such convincing style. Simply put, this is absolutely guaranteed a place in the top 5 of my end-of.year album list.

Ok, I feel that I must also make a point of addressing Vreth's vocals, which have improved dramatically since the previous album, and are now far more "trollish" and easily sit up there with the best work of previous singers, Katla or Wilska.

So, now for the songs:

The first track, "Blodmarsch", is an instrumental intro, which does a lot to set the tone for the chaos to follow, with it's creepy atmosphere, which to my ears, is reminiscent of the darker parts of the Lord Of The Rings soundtracks. This then segues into the first real song, "Solsagan", which is in many ways a typical Finntroll track (if there is such a thing), with it's thrashing guitars, pounding drums, humppa rhythms, harsh vocals and yoik-style group vocals.

"Den Frusna Munnen" is up next, opening with some interesting percussion (including what sounds like steel drums), similar to that which was previously heard on "En Mäktig Här" from the "Ur Jordens Djup" album, before the guitars come in and we are back in familiar "Nattfödd" territory. I can't sress enough, however, that this album cannot really be compared to anything the band have released previously, as this would be unfair to the depth of detail (and madness) that is apparent here.

After this we have the traditional Swedish folk intro for "Ett Norrskensdåd", which continues throughout the song as the backing for some heavy riffing and growling vocals. Superbly catchy, yet heavy enough to pull it off at the same time. Following this is the, almost thrashing, death/black metal of "I Trädens Sång", with it's subtle Grieg style keyboards. I would say that this is the heaviest song on the album, for those who want to know. This, in turn, is followed by some dark, eerie, chanting vocals, and then some more nice growling from Vreth for the slower, stomp of "Tiden Utan Tid", once again with some nice classical and epic fantasy film soundtrack keyboards.

The ´softer´ moment of the album is up next with "Galgasång", with it's ´clean´ vocals and slower-paced folk instrumentation, sounding to me, like something you might find on a Glittertind CD. This is certainly not a criticism, however, as this is something different for Finntroll, and fits in nicely with the flow of the album as a whole. This will be a real "lighters in the air" moment if they play it live in the future.

Of course, this slow pace doesn't last, and is instantly followed by "Mot Skuggornas Värld" with it's heavy guitars, some more of the Grieg keyboards (and xylophone), along with some huge classical flourishes that would be more at home on a Sigh album. This is sure to get your head nodding or your toes tapping.

The highlight of the album for me, however, is up next. "Under Bergets Rot" has everything you could possibly want from a Finntroll song...a wonderful, uplifting folk melody, harsh singing, trollish "gang" vocals, a prevailing humppa stomp, kazoo, and some ´spooky´Scooby-Do keyboards. Dare I say, Genius?! This is followed by the (almost) equally brilliant "Fornfamnad" with more of the same, but with even more kazoo!

The album ends with the dark, foreboding "Dråp", which takes us all the way back to "Midnattens Widunder". This is definitely one for the long-time fans , who are craving some of the old Finntroll darkness, with it's sinister keyboards, thrashing guitars and hollering vocal style.

So, after all my words, what is the verdict? Well, if you are an existing Finntroll fan, I find it totally implausable that you could be disappointed by this, and if you are a Finntroll virgin, thinking of checking them out....this is the album to start with. This is a ´must buy´ for all fans of folk metal, those with a taste for experimentation, or just is you are looking for a fun, uplifting, metal ´party´ album. So, overall 9.5/10