Erzherz

This band is not your typical Folk Metal outfit. They are not fast, they are not really folky, and they are not crazy (ie, Korpiklaani,) but they ARE still very very good.

The music is beautiful. It reminds me of an ancient time, though a time that did not exactly exist.

The album starts off with a non-musical track with ducks quacking and a gun shooting. The next song, Circle of the Scroll (Jarnauga II) starts off with some pretty distorted guitar and some basic drumming. When the vocals kick in it is pure bliss. This guy has an amazing voice but not Vintersorg or Garm like, its just a mellow, beautiful voice. Around 3:00 in the song, there is a spoken part. After that, there is a great flute part. This is the second longest song on the album at 7:36.

The next song is Niemals vergessen which is a keyboard song. It is one of my favorites because it has this great mystical sound to it.

The next song, Gathering clouds, is one of my absolute favorite songs of all time. It starts off with him singing "Under gathering clouds..." and his voice is just so enchanting. I love this song. It sounds liek the drums get a bit off at times, but its okay, because the music is so mellow.

The next song, Dreams end ( dream on ..), sounds a lot different from anything else ont he album. It doesnt have the buzzing guitar that the other songs have. It is a great track, but not one of my favorites. It lacks the enchanting sound of the rest of the album.

Icefire's Blue is another long song, clocking in at over 6 minutes, and is another typical song on this album. It doesnt sound much different than the others, and nothing really makes it stand out. That is the reason I took points off.

Trolltanz is another keyboard oriented album starting off with animal noises. It has the same excellent mystical sound that the rest of the album presents. I love this song.

Winds beyond your timem starts off with some piano and then goes into some more beautiful singing. There is plenty of synth. Around 4 minutes or so the guitar speeds up a bit and then it quiets down for some more synth and vocals. The rest of the song is this way, which is definitely not a bad thing. This is the longest song on the album at 10:33.

Now this next song is by FAR my favorite song on the album. Legend's domain is just so beautiful. It starts off with beautifully plaid acoustic guitar and goes into some more beautiful singing. Around 3:00 it speeds up a bit and then returns to the slower buzzing guitar around 3:45, in preparation for more singing. This guy has a great voice.

The last track finishes things off well with a nice little keyboard playing and song birds chirping.
4
I would highly recommend this album to anyone that is interested in REAL folk metal, not fast blast beats with black metal and death metal styled vocals. This is for the real fans.