MOONSORROW — V: Hävitetty (review)

MOONSORROW — V: Hävitetty album cover Album · 2007 · Folk Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
topofsm
This may be one of the grandest metal albums in the last decade, and certainly one of the most epic in the folk/viking metal genre. With two lengthy compositions on this album, Viides Luku - Hävitetty, Moonsorrow creates a doomy metal atmosphere giving the impression of a vast expansive landscape full of foreboding elements and harsh textures.

Beginning the album is a moody synth chord in the background, with a large cracking sound groaning across the soundscape, perhaps a melting glacier or shifting earth adding to the doomy texture of the album. Clean, melancholy guitar begins a solemn intro, and the journey begins. The build up is almost post-rock like, with things really finally picking up to speed about ten minutes into the composition. At this point there is heavy metal guitar assaulting the listener with crushing riffs, along with driving drums and a longing synthesized choir in the background. The vocals, like in many folk-metal albums, are very black metal-esque and add enormous amounts to the bleakness of the record. By the end of the first piece, one will be taken aback at the spectacle they have witnessed, but certainly won't be worn out for the second half of the journey.

The second song, "Tuleen Ajettu Maa", is distinctly more folk-oriented. As the tectonic cracking returns, a faint drum crescendoes into the piece in a driving 5/4 rhythm. Folky acoustic guitar drops in with a mouth harp, showcasing the traditional roots of the band. A couple minutes in and the epic metal instrumentation makes a second appearance, and in contrast with the lighter instruments sounds far more agressive and emotional than the first time around. As the composition builds in intensity, the genres switch from the metal sound back and forth to folk music several times, before the band continues in the more straightforward doom metal vein for the rest of the song. The epic nature of the rest of the composition is excellent as well, and the music fades away, back into the sounds of the harsh landscape from which the album came.

A great album, especially for fans of doom, viking, and folk metal.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion Black Metal
PANZERFAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Merciless Crossover Thrash
BODY COUNT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Vengeance [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - I Need You [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed