Maryland-based historical folk metal band Isenmor has revealed a unique dual-violin video for “Drink To Glory,” the third single from their upcoming debut full-length, Shieldbrother. Preorders are available on Bandcamp.

The video showcases the band’s two violinists, Nicholas Schneider and Mark Williams, playing through the track on a riverbank, with the duo adding a fun touch by imbibing and bow-sword fighting between violin parts.

“On Shieldbrother, we tend towards the darker, more brutal side of folk metal, but we still had to include the obligatory raucous drinking tune,” Schneider says. “While a bit of an outlier with how upbeat it is, ‘Drink To Glory’ is a crowd favorite at shows, with folks singing along and average bar tabs increasing dramatically.”

Isenmor sings tales of harrowing battlescapes and historic foes in their gewyrdelic folk metal style: a blend of metal, orchestral, and folk music, combining intricate violin leads and rich vocal harmonies with a strong guitar-driven folk metal base inspired by the stalwarts of the genre including Týr, Ensiferum, and Eluveitie. “Gewyrdelic” is an Old English word that roughly translates to “historical.” The meaning of the term, as well as its etymology, describe Isenmor’s lyrical and thematic focus on the history and legends of the Anglo-Saxon and Germanic peoples. 

“Any society that has a settled enough lifestyle to stay put long enough for drink to ferment has learned to enjoy it, and to feel its ill effects,” Schneider explains. “In the heroic poetry of the Germanic peoples, mead, a brew made from fermented honey, is the drink of the halls of heroes. The praise for horns of mead may have marked its reputation as the drink favored by any who could get his hands on it, but honey has never been a common commodity, and the drink in most men’s horns would be an ale. For many, then as now, drink is an important ritual for celebration and social bonding, but overconsumption has ill effects, and for some the dangers are greater than the benefits. When you raise a cup to drink to glory, whether it has a beer, a water or whatever, we’ll drink with you all the same. Wes hal, drinc hal!”

Shieldbrother, available October 9, delivers tales of glory with the triumphant title track, sorrowful tales of woe such as the mournful “Battle Scarred” and the dirge-like “Mount Badon,” a 17-minute epic entitled “Sigurd’s Song,” the obligatory folk metal drinking song (with an Isenmor twist), “Drink to Glory,” and more tales steeped in the myth and history of the dark ages. The album was self-recorded and mixed, then mastered by the legendary Dan Swanö of Unisound.

Tracklisting:

“Battle Scarred”
“Shieldbrother”
“Mount Badon”
“Furor Teutonics”
“Drink To Glory”
“Kings Of The Cold Mountains”
“Wanderlust”
“Sigurd’s Song”

"Drink To Glory" video:

“Battle Scarred” lyric video: