| Reviews for Svafnir (Ger)'s The Heathen Chapters |
| Monstrous potential for the next chapter - 60% |
| Written by autothrall
on November 2nd, 2009
|
| This is the third album from Svafnir, a pagan/folk metal band out of Germany. All instruments and vocals are handled by Alexander Suplie, and the majority of the material is straight acoustic folk, though some of the tracks climax with driving, simple metal chords and Suplie's harsh vocals. Most of the album is quite relaxing and simple, in particular I favor tracks like "Shadows in the Water", "The Blackbird's Flight" with its bluesy guitar solo, or "The Mourning Forest" with its dark, whispered vocals over the plucky acoustic line. "Nothing Left" and "Death of the Sun" are two of the heavier tracks, and they're decent but not very catchy. The album sounds good, the guitars are all clear and he has a pretty cool voice whether he's using it to whisper or growl. Percussion sounds nice, and certain tracks have just the right amount of atmosphere. For me this album just wasn't memorable enough as far as the riffing goes, but it's clear that Alexander has the potential to create a monstrous folk metal album one of these days. I just don't think The Heathen Chapters is that album. However, if you are interested in simplistic European folk metal with is heavier on the acoustic side than metal, you should track this down and his older albums. -autothrall http://www.fromthedustreturned.com |
| Um... - 76% |
| Written by OzzyApu
on May 23rd, 2009
|
| Any reason why he just put his sophomore album as the first half and filled in new material for the rest? That, I’m confused about; maybe Aufbruch was so damn good that he just had to copy + paste it no this new album, I dunno. The new material is completely instrumental and retains the same kind of river-like flow as the previous album, so that’s a good start. Still, I’m boggled as to why the hell he literally just pasted the entire Aufbruch album here and added five new tracks… Production wise it’s a drop quieter, like you’re in a spring forest rather than out in the summer open. The new tracks are mostly acoustic aside from “The Blackbirds Flight” and some other spontaneous appearances. Nonetheless, “The Blackbirds Flight” showcases some great solo skills I never expected Suplie to contain, making it the best of the new material just for being something new. Otherwise, the album is quite the relaxing adventure; if you feel pissed off, just put this album on and you’re bound to ease your mind, body, and soul. “The Druids Cosmic Journey” is the only thing that seems out of place, because its more like a cello grinding its way past some minimal sampling – completely devoid of anything respectable like in the previous tracks. Lastly, I don’t want to have to repeat myself, so do yourself a favor and check out the Aufbruch review of mine to get the scoop on the first seven tracks of this album and (ultimately) that album as well. Much of what I said there also applies here, so don’t get thinking I’m bailing out of this one in favor of that one. In fact, you’re getting more for your buck with this album since this is pretty much Aufbruch with “previously unreleased” tracks. |