Sleipnir
Bloodbrothers ()
Wydane przez Gardarika MusikkRok wydania Kraj UKNapisał Wouter5
There is nothing truly fascinating about Sleipnir’s music. This is rather thin-sounding and quite non-descript Viking metal from the UK. The folk instrumentation adds to the authenticity and charm, but is not integrated enough into the compositions to truly work in their favor, making them nothing more than an afterthought. Sleipnir’s biggest fault is that “Bloodbrothers” falls squarely into the populist sing-along/polka variety of the folk metal subgenre. Where earlier folk metal bands went for a melancholic atmosphere and gloom, the rising popularity of Ensiferum, Finntroll, Korpiklaani, Moonsorrow and the likes has reduced this genre to nothing more but glorified drinking songs for the unwashed masses. The production is that of an okay sounding demo. The guitars are thin, don’t hold a lot of bite and are not very detailed sounding. The drums sound flat, impotent and miss all sorts of power. The bass guitar is completely inaudible and adds no heaviness whatsoever. The vocals are of the typical heroic and Viking variety, being workable but not really exceptional. Overall Sleipnir suffer from the typical mistakes and trappings of underground folk metal in that concentrate too much on the singalong/polka aspect of their music, instead of fully embracing the contemplative and dark atmosphere that institutions such as Primordial, Thyrfing and Helheim pioneered. The folk metal genre is so much more interesting than bands like this tend to suggest, apparently there is a market for them. Why Gardarika Musikk continues to sign these type of bands is beyond comprehension.
www.gardarikamusikk.com
