Hellebaard
Fier ()
Wydane przez Gardarika MusikkRok wydania Kraj HollandNapisał Wouter6
Pagan black metal from the Netherlands. A hellebaard (Halberd) is a medieval weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries and looks like a combination of a double axe and a spear. The halberd was one of the polearms sometimes carried by lower-ranking officers in European infantry units in the 16th through 18th centuries. Together with the now defunct Thronar this band is probably Holland's most well-known export in the genre. Unto their fourth record with 'Fier' ('Proud') have now perfected their style, which a track as 'Vleugels van Vuur' ('Wings Of Fire') proves with its barbaric tempo changes, atmospheric keyboard waves and a very serviceable solo/lead to top it all off. 'Bloedbroeders' ('Bloodbrothers') has a great medieval percussion intro and the middle segment sees a return of the percussion in unison with pompous orchestral elements. The serpentine riffing in 'Verborgen Stad' ('Hidden City') closely resembles the earliest Satyricon albums. Compared to today's more popular pagan/folk metal bands Hellebaard is far from upbeat and rather primitive and crude in execution. This however is their strength as this places Hellebaard on the same level as Ireland's forerunners Primordial, one of the darkest and most brutal of folk bands on the scene. The production is on the crude side and forms a nice contrast to the genre's most popular and inertly overproduced acts. The cover art is poor, but the design of the booklet and traycard compensate for the lack of real cover art. Artwork by Awik Balaian (Heidevolk), Péter Sallai (Bornholm) or Jan Yrlund (Gwydion, Svartsot, Týr) could have made this so much more better. For fans of Bathory, (early) Graveland, Darkthrone and Summoning.
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