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Amazing! Black metal screaming combined with choir singing. The use of Finnish folk instruments such as the fiddle, accordion, kantele, jouhikko and mouth harp. The sounds of campfires burning, birds singing, ravens soaring, water falling, wind blowing, swords and armour bashing, etc… All this and much more can be heard on ‘Verisäkeet’. Moonsorrow have just delivered a true epic masterpiece and maybe even their best work up to date. The music just lets you dream and takes you on a journey through the ages back to the time of the pagan past. The time that nature and it’s forces were worshiped and not only one God. When forests where abundant and wild and men stood alongside beasts. The time of heathen tribes and great battles in northern lands. This is of course a romanticised look at the past but nonetheless these tales do fascinate many. Over the last years lots of bands have been combining folklore music and black metal but only a few have succeeded in grasping the listener’s attention from beginning till the end. With Moonsorrow this doesn’t seem to be a problem at all.
The five tracks on this album are long but never tiresome. The songs are filled with battle hymns, that really get you pumped up, but also with melancholic melodies which creates a more sadder atmosphere. Acoustic guitar parts are always present within the songs and used beautifully. Guitar riffs are just right, never too much on the foreground but always noticeable. The drums are straight forward excellent and played at different paces depending on the mood. All vocals used are just mind-blowing. Besides the regular metal and traditional folk instruments the band also makes good use of bombastic orchestrated keyboard parts. Especially on this record I recognize a typical keyboard sound that was also used on Burzum’s ‘Filosofem’ album. Everything on ‘Verisäkeet’ just fits perfectly. Just listen to the track ‘Pimeä’ and you will agree with me on this one. The Finnish language also enforces the greatness of the whole concept. Even the recording and production are flawless with all instruments clearly audible. I just can’t find anything that I don’t like about this album. This kind of music is pure and comes straight from the heart. You can’t fake such real emotions. Moonsorrow have crowned themselves with their fourth full-length release as the masters of epic pagan-folk metal. I can’t wait to see them live!
| Tracklist |
| 1. Karkhunkynsi |
| 2. Haaska |
| 3. Pimeä |
| 4. Jotunheim |
| 5. Kaiku |
: 70.39
| Buy other Moonsorrow albums |
