MOONSORROW — Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa (review)

MOONSORROW — Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa album cover Album · 2011 · Folk Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2.5/5 ·
Time Signature
Moon-meh...

Genre: symphonic folk black metal

Moonsorrow are a respected and much loved folk metal band, and I totally understand why people like them. They manage to generate a dark and almost oppressive atmosphere with their viking/black metal derived folk music, which also contains just the right amount of elements from gothic doom metal.

For some reason, the metallic elements on this album do not really rock my world. I think that the tracks are well performed, and I can hear that they are sincerely expressive, although I am put off by the way that most of the songs are smothered with epic keyboards, but they strike me as sounding kind of generic - not in relation to folk metal as such, but in relation to the context of each other and the album as a whole. Also, the atonally screamed black metal styled vocals on this release tend to annoy me, and I think that they add to my experience of monotony (more tonal vocals could add some melodic variation).

While I find the metallic side to this album a bit uninteresting, I really enjoy the folk music bits and the folk music instrumentation and melodies, which I think save this album from, in me experience, being a completely monotonous and uninspiring listen.

My own sour-ass opinions aside, I think that fans of viking metal and more extreme folk metal will enjoy this album immensely - and that such fans will be able to enjoy all the folk metal gems and qualities to this release that I have obviously failed to identify.
Share this review

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!

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

A Sonication Technical Death Metal
OBSCURA
Buy this album from MMA partners
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
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

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