Friday, August 3, 2012

Kroda - Schwarzpfad


Genre : Folk black metal

Kroda is quite popular in the black metal scene, and I would agree to describe it as pagan black. Here, let's consider it as rawer folk metal, just because it doesn't have the melancholic, poetic touch observed in some of the bands I've been talking about here, yet it has some intensity which shouldn't be missed, successfully merged with folky melodies played a great way. Schwarzpfad features both beautiful folk melodies and aggressive black metal, and for a very positive note, those are perfectly arranged together! To me, it's the best aspect in this album, since many pagan black metal tend to play folk and metal quite separately. Hope I make sense. Technically, Schwarzpfad is very nice too! Vocals sure lack some emotion, but they're strong and well-balanced in the mix, melodies are great and avoid the usual "dissonant-pagan-chords" flaw. Pagan choirs are good enough, metal arrangements are totally black metal, and sometimes, it's a real pleasure! Least we can say, is that this is a rich and intense album, which definitely deserves being digged.

Come on, give it a shot. Schwarzpfad I (First snow) or Schwarzpfad II (Heil Ragnarok!) are good picks to start with.

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