Tales from the North

I discovered White Skull by a completed accident. There I was browsing some album covers on a website and I see a long ship on the front of one of them. I now know that this cover belongs to this very album. Though I like the cover art a lot, it does not justify purchasing the album. So what would I do? Well, check them out of course.


I will start with the vocals. Now, they are very different. Though I am a fan of the much hated beauty and the beast vocals around. The first track after the intro, titled ‘Tales from the North’, twins a male and female vocalist in a complete different way. I would say that the female growl is better than the male one, which is not common. I would suggest taking your time to listen to this album a couple of times in order to get used to the vocals. Maybe you won’t get used to them, but try! They make the album superb. They honestly sound like nothing I have ever heard. The choruses are often special though. They have a special feel to them, most of them feel like they are being chanted and it brings a very epic feel to the songs. This is just as well because the album is there to tell a story.


Now for the music. The strongest part of this is the guitar by far. The album is filled with amazing solo’s that will make you tap your feet at the very least; the songs often use the solos before a last chorus. This is very well placed; hearing choruses over and over can get very annoying. In my opinion the music behind the vocals is nothing special, often following similar trends. As I said though, the vocals are the strong enough to counter this. Each song also has a lead in that sets the pace for the song. I like this approach, the vocalist this way gets shared attention with the musicians. After all, an album needs to have a great performance from each side! So once the story is over, an outro comes on. It is very similar to the intro and therefore, in a way, puts a close on the ‘book’.


I recommend this for anyone who enjoys power metal without the overuse of keyboard. Also, anyone who just enjoys metal from all genres, because its shame that this sort of power metal gets little attention over other kinds. This album really can appeal to anyone and as someone who enjoys Nightwish as much a Wormphlegm and Windir I think it’s safe to say that anyone can approach it. If you want to get a feel to the album, I recommend you listed to ‘Gods of The Sea’. I would say that this is the highlight for the album.

A good band that puts out epic works are always eaten up by people who enjoy the vast scale on which the bands play their songs. This is something that White Skull is guilty of. Truly epic masterpieces that just make you wish you were not living in this shit time. Multivoiced choruses, dueling melodies, very detailed drumming(don't ask me, it sounded good) that puts you in the situation the band is trying to portray. This is White Skull.

And no more so than on "Tales From the North." Every song on here is an epic masterpiece. In all of the songs the guitars, drums, bass, and vocals catch the melody and attitude of the song and cast the listener into the aforementioned situation that the band is telling of. Songs such as "Gods of the Sea" and the title track "Tales From the North" are just beyond calculation and mere mortal words. The story literally becomes the focus rather than the music, and you become entwined in the entire experience.

Only thing to watch out for, for people who have never heard this band before are the vocals. They take some getting used to, as they kind of sound like a small animal being strangled (closest description I can find). THey may take a little getting used to.

I would recommend this album to anyone with the listening capacity for Power Metal or any fans of epic heavy metal bands like Running Wild or Virgin Steele. ENJOY!