FINNTROLL: Ur Jordens Djup

Choice Of The Month March 2007
Cover	Release	Style
	2007-03-30	death/black with folk (humppa metal)
	Label
	www.centurymedia.com
	Website
	www.finntroll.net
	Contact
	-
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	55:57	CD 77619-2
	Review by / Translated by	Rating
	Vera	9,5/10
nederlands	Review
My first encounter with Finntroll happened in a live situation in February 2002 during a package with Tanzwut and Within Temptation. When the jolly Finns assaulted the stage and slung their infectious mixture of extreme metal and hopping Finnish folk music into the venue, this very venue changed into a humppa moshpit and I decided to listen to the albums of Finntroll. I never regretted it, for I still like to play classic albums like ‘Jaktens Tid’ and Nattfödd’. ‘Nattfödd’ came out in 2004, but three years later the fourth full length studio album ‘Ur Jordens Djup’ is released at last. It is high time for some jolly folk amusement. Last Summer I saw the band live at Summer Breeze 2006 with their new vocalist Vreth, but this is the first time that he entered the studio with these rough bards. He appears to be a very suitable replacement of Wilska (and above all, of the original singer Katla, who’s still in charge behind the scenes). The typical Finntroll style only comes in full flourish on ‘Ur Jordens Djup’ (‘Depths Of The Earth’) during the third track. At first we have a heavy symphonic intro with a fairytale-like melody and eclectic percussion and ‘Sang’ is a fast haunting metal track a bit more blackish than we are used to hear, but anyway, this step closer to the Viking approach is a well-done try out. The springy, sparkish rhythms, flutes and folk elements develop in ‘Körpens Saga’, ‘Nedgang’ and in the subsequent songs that all turn into classic tunes after a few spins. Right here the hectic multi-layered death/black metal is interwoven with lightly flutes, the mouth harp and lashing of atmosphere inducing keyboards. Keyboard player Trollhorn, who plays in Moonsorrow too, is one of the main composers of Finntroll and you hear that. Finntroll has produced a stunner like fury with this fourth full length album. It will turn many venues upside down during the upcoming Earthshaker Roadshock Fest tour. Their flamboyant mix of ferocious barbarian music and drunken folk tunes is that fetching that they have become an echelon of the genre: humppa metal, which in the occluding thirteen minutes ‘Kvällning’ adds a few funny things to enhance our troll ravishment. Have some polka studies before they are coming to our country in the end of April! And be sure to be fast, because the first limited edition will gratify you with a bonus DVD. Note for those who never heard of this: this is a hybridization of Madness and early Moonspell (LoL).
Musicians
Vreth: vocals Routa: guitars Skrymer: guitars Trollhorn: keyboards Tundra: bass Beast Dominator: drums
Tracklist
Gryning (3:31) Sang (4:40) Korpens Saga (3:26) Nedgang (3:44) Ur Djupet (4:59) Slagbröder (4:31) En Mäktig Här (4:19) Ormhäxan (4:39) Maktens Spira (3:28) Under Tva Runor (5:36) Kvällning (13:01)
Discography


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