The one thing that strikes me with the new album by this Finnish band is that there are more folk influences within this album than previous works. With the addition of more folk-infused melodies and even choral voices the folk influences are even more apparent, especially with the first track on the album “Jumalten Aika”. The name translates to ‘The Age of Gods’ in English and within it melodic riffs meet with blastful drums and raw sounding vocals which make the track a fast and heavy yet somewhat catchy one.
With the second track on the album “Ruttolehto incl. Päivättömän Päivän Kansa” (“Plague Grove incl. People of the Dayless Day”) a choir start off the track, and later the introduction of melodies from the guitars and drums open the way for heavy and darker styled vocals. Just like the rest of the album this track is energetic and diverse, mixing the heavy and raw black metal sound with calmer and more melodic influences of folk through the vocal choir and through the music itself.
The album itself is a beautifully written piece of art with slow tempos and the addition of instrumentals throughout. These add so much passion behind the music and create a dark atmosphere making it a difficult album not to love. Even with the more apparent folk themes that run thicker in this album, the themes themselves just make the overall album a piece of pure art. The folk themes also allow atmospheres that are more relaxed and calm which fit in a flawlessly unique way. This is particularly notable in the track “Mimisbrunn” where the catchy melodies of the folk influences meet with traditional black metal vocals, and the uplifting themes of the folk influences just add power and volume.
The lyrics in this album really do well to reflect the themes that run through it in terms of its music, such as – again – in ‘Mimisbrunn’ which reflects the Norse mythological tale of Mímir’s Well. In addition there are lyrics based around natural themes, which again just adds to the more black metal and folk feel to the album as a whole. An album that can only really be described as incredible.
Jumalten Aika dropped on April 1st
