Free Metal Monday: GOD The Barbarian Horde-Hell & Heaven

Self-Release/Independent
2006

Available for download by clicking here, "Hell & Heaven" is a (wicked) five-track pagan/epic metal EP from the Romanian band called God The Barbarian Horde. Other than the group's 2014 EP, "Zal Mox", the aptly-titled "Hell & Heaven" is just one of the many name your own price recordings from this intriguing act that certainly lives up to the "barbarian" part of it's moniker! You can check them all out for yourself by heading over to the group's bandcamp page.

Nothgard-Age Of Pandora

Trollzorn Records
2014

It has it's perks. Being a writer for this blog that is. Here we have Germany's Nothgard who are another new (as in new to me) band for which I have a PR friend to thank. This tech-minded, Deggendorf, Bavaria-based band crossed my path thanks to Markus Eck (http://www.metalmessage.de/) and while I am highly-impressed by their upcoming sophomore release I will admit that I am at a lose as to how to properly describe their sound in full. We'll get to that point in a second, but for now let's do a role-call to see who it is we are set to chat about and how it is that they got from point A (their formation) to point B (this stellar work of EPIC metal!). Founded in 2008 by singer and lead-guitarist Dom R. Crey (Equilibrium, Wolfchant) and former drummer Tonie this German band first started out under the name of Nordavind before changing to their current moniker in 2009. Along the way there would be line-up changes to go along with the name change as well as some experimentation with sound and style (by all accounts it appears as if the band's original aim was to combine symphonic metal with death metal, folk metal, traditional heavy metal and power metal). There would be a 2009, 3-track demo released followed by the well-received debut album, "Warhorns of Midgard", in 2011. Now here it is three years later and we find that this well-oiled machine of a band, which, besides skilled vocalist/lead guitarist Dom R. Crey, currently consists of Vik S. (Bass), Daniel K. (Rhythm Guitar), D. Ziegler (Drums) and Skaahl (Rhythm Guitar), is truly blessed with a high-class style all their own! On paper it's either spelled out as epic melodic death metal or melodic death/pagan metal,but the truth of the matter is it's all of that and then some! First off the use of three guitars gives Nothgard a technical skill-level all their own! We're talking double lead guitars here and the way in which they are fused together so perfectly is nothing short of amazing! Having previously read up on this band for research purposes (that is prior to being able to actually sit down and listen to this album for myself-long story short, but with family in town until this very morning it proved to be a difficult challenge (downloading promo material and then cranking it loud and proud!) finding time to be alone) I was really not expecting these German metalheads to be as well-rounded and polished as they were! Or for that matter as mature and graceful either! And yet that's pretty much what we are looking at when it comes to Nothgard's 2nd full-length release. Overall the high-class music packed within "Age Of Pandora" comes across as if it is has been orchestrated with greatness in mind. Have no fear though. As stylistic and classy as Nothgard appears to be here they are equally as heavy and aggressive! The band's insanely epic sound is still ground in METAL after-all and that comes screaming across the sky by way of those previously mentioned double-leads (one's which are fiercely speed metal-tinged at times!), sharp (as in flesh-cutting!) rhythm guitar, POUNDING bass and drums and, last but CERTAINLY not least, Dom's demonic voice! His sinister delivery is the icing on top of this prized cake and come mid-September Nothgard should be riding high atop the success of this rampaging release! While you wait for that drop-date be sure to check out Nothgard's back catalog and like their Facebook page so that you can keep track of this pagan band and their daily festivities!

Metal Message - "Compilation V"

Metal Message
2008

When was the last time you heard of a CD compilation that came packaged in a DVD case? There can't be all that many out there right? I mean I rummaged through my memory banks and couldn't think of one. Not one. True, it might not be entirely practical as far as shipping them and displaying them. And yet I can't help but wish more compilations came housed in a nice DVD case like this! But anyway, on compilation number "V" from our friends at Metal Message, which is a limited edition affair (mine being 1,496 out of 2000!), the name of the game is pagan metal. Truthfully speaking and all I'm not the least bit knowledgeable when it comes down to said subject. But, I'm always open to new and exciting things (hey, I even tried marriage once friends!) so I dove into this one head first and took a long swim in the deep, dark and cold waters that is pagan metal. And what did I discover? Well, first off let's take a look at the overall packaging of this compilation from it's case to it's 30 pages booklett. Yes, you read that right friends. The booklet that comes with this compilation is 30 pages long with band pictures and line-up/contact information for said bands. Along with beautiful shots of nature (as pagan metal has a powerful connection with nature) this is one great booklet and let me just say that this is how you do serious heavy metal justice to a various artists compilation! What we have on hand here is a deluxe package for a compilation that, while described overall as a pagan metal compilation, actual has bands that also play folk metal and viking metal. With this 2008 compilation, which also comes with a neat little postcard, you get it all (pagan/viking/folk) with most tracks running about five minutes or so on average with a total run-time being in the neighborhood of one hour and seventeen minutes.As I would have no prior reference points for any of these bands I do realize that going track by track would probably not make much sense. Instead I'll list it for you all to read over and then give you my overall impression of it below.

1. Fimbulvet - Helias Bann
2.. Hromovlad - Slavia
3. Tumulus - Kochevonov Plyas
4. Dark Forest - Journey To Ever-Eternal Skies
5. Tiwaz - The Battlelore
6. Dyrathor - Im Auge des Sturms
7. Xerion - No Pazo Derruido Da Existencia
8. Adorned Brood - Sons Of The Damned
9. Waylander - As Deities Clash
10. Natan - Volkskracht
11. Andras - Miasma Track
12. Obscurity - Nach Asgard wir reiten
13. Vinternatt - De Zwarte Mis 


These bands come from all over the world. We open with Fimbulvet, who hail from Germany and have a stripped-down and raw viking metal vibe going for them, and we close with Belgium's Vinternatt who, in spite of coming across as harsh more often then not thanks to the black metal vocals of Bert Baeyens, add an interesting element to their sound with the use of the violin! Along the way we have bands popping up from Slovakia (Hromovlad), Canada (Dark Forest), Brazil (Tiwaz), Spain (Xerion) and Ireland (Waylander). So, a lot of ground (distance-wise across this great globe of ours!) is covered here on "V" and for fans of pagan metal (as well as both viking and folk metal) that can't be a bad thing I figure. Admittedly I'm not sure what else to add to this review as my understanding of said genres is vastly inferior to the bulk of heavy metal blog writers. Still, I will say that I found this compilation interesting if nothing else. A few of the tracks were a tad long for my short attention span (the Dark Forest track is over 8 minutes long!), but I'm still glad I gave it a chance as it's always best to try out new bands and new styles of music when ever you can! So, in a nutshell I found the packaging to be killer (the booklet is stunningly put together folks!) while the actual music ran from decent to good. If you're a fan of pagan metal then this release isn't a bad way to go (especially as it makes for a cool addition to any collection thanks to the packaging alone!).

Varg-Guten Tag

NoiseArt Records
2012


It's Thursday, or as my friend Jeremy (former lead singer of The Approach and The Execution) likes to say "It's Thor'sday!", so what better way to celebrate the fact that the weekend is almost upon us then with some viking metal! Varg, which means "wolf" in both Swedish and Norwegian, is a German pagan metal band that was formed back in 2005. This is the band's forth full-length studio album and, as the lyrics are not in English, I'll just have to assume that this is all about vikings, sword fighting,drinking plenty of strong ale, etc. That being the case (having no clue whatsoever what these guys are talking about here!) let's just focus on the music. That is easy enough to do as this some fairly "interesting" metal and, even more so, a unique take on the pagan metal genre. Where to start with these sword wielding maniacs? Well, from the start this is Viking metal at it's roots, but it's also a little punk, a little thrash, a little black metal, a little traditional heavy metal and a whole lot of attitude. Starting with the punk rock, as good a place to start as any, and one need only listen to Varg for a few minutes to hear the sounds of bands like the Dropkick Murphys and/or Flogging Molly. As with most folk/pagan/viking bands there is always that strong sense that very little separates the two genres (pagan/folk verses folk/punk) other then the volume level. With Varg though it seems as if the desire was to create a folk edge without the traditional folk instruments so it does give them a bit more of a traditional metal edge. Onward and we get to enjoy parts that point toward thrash and black metal. When they want Varg offer pagan metal that sounds all the world like severely hard and heavy blackened thrash with old school metal riffs. I'm not going to say that this is first place a thrash geared album though. These guys obviously have their swords pointed high up to their Norse gods. There is always some folk rocking out in the background and, even in German, you can tell that Varg want to pillage and plunder. If you tweaked these gents though you could almost get off with calling them power metal though so, even if it is not even 9am yet, I can't help but want to raise a pint in their honor for giving the world of metal a album that is certainly heavy and worthy of a few devil horns!