MÅNEGARM – Månegarm

December 9, 2015, 8 years ago

(Napalm)

Nick Balazs

Rating: 6.5

review heavy metal manegarm

MÅNEGARM – Månegarm

Sweden’s Månegarm is back with their eight slab of Viking/folk metal goodness. The band has really progressed with the Scandinavian folk textures and have essentially abandoned the black metal elements they started out with. In fact the softer passages are reminiscent of Ensiferum which is never a black eye. Månegarm normally have all their lyrics in Swedish, but that changed with their last album, Legions Of The North as they are now incorporating English and ‘crossing over’ as it were. Some longtime fans may be dismayed by the accessibility of this album, especially with the folksy, catchy sections in “Tagen Av Daga” and “Call Of The Runes”. The closest they arrive to a full out attack is the opener “Blodörn” and “Kraft”. This album is such a yo-yo in terms of transition with having soft, acoustic measures in “Blot” and the “Vigverk – Del II” and then crushers like the aforementioned “Call Of The Runes” and “Odin Owns Ye All”. 

There’s definitely variety, but I would have liked them to focus more on the swords and shield of metal rather than the campfire callings. The marching “Nattramn” kicks in, pure Viking goodness and a swaying middle section, but then the female led “Allfader” brings the proceedings to a close and man, I wished this went out with a bang rather than this whimper, but I guess the Swedes wanted to end this journey on a somber note. If these softer songs were stronger with their melodies, this would easily get an 8, but alas this is not the case. This self-titled affair is still plenty worth it though and anyone who dabbles in the folk/Viking realm will surely gain enjoyment from this.



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