January 2024 - Feature Release - The North Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month’s feature release for The North has been nominated by Shezma. It's 2008's highly regarded "Sagas" sophomore album from German folk metallers Equilibrium. I've struggled with the couple of Equilibrium releases I've heard previously (2010's "Rekreatur" & 2019's "Renegades") so this one is a bit of a daunting prospect for me personally but I'm determined to give it a good Aussie crack given just how widely praised "Sagas" seems to be. Wish me luck!

https://metal.academy/releases/6643

While Rekreatur is my personal favorite and got me into the genre, I cannot deny Sagas. This is such a good album and I don't see enough love for Folk metal on this site so I had to give this a nomination to try to get more people to listen. I don't expect this to change your mind at all Daniel from what you've said but we can't leave out the folk side for our North brethren since I didn't see a single one in all of 2023 when looking at the featured list. Do we have anyone else that enjoy Folk metal here?

Look, I've given "Sagas" a full three listens over the last few days but I have to admit that it was a pretty torturous exercise for me as I think this style of folk metal is just about as far from my taste profile as it's possible to get. This is hardly surprising given that another style of metal I generally struggle with is European power metal & a lot of "Sagas" is essentially European power metal with folk melodies & black metal vocals layered over the top. The material is all well produced & showcases excellent technical proficiency of course but I simply can't contain my gag reflex & feel that I'd be doing the band a disservice by reviewing the record as I have no time whatsoever for anything that sounds remotely like this e.g. Ensiferum, Finntroll, Eluveitie, etc.

2/5

Do we have anyone else that enjoy Folk metal here?

I believe Xephyr is the biggest fan of our regular contributors.

Aloha, resident non-hater of Folk Metal here.

What makes it hard is that there are very few Folk Metal releases nowadays that stand alone as a Folk release, rather than being bundled with a Black / Progressive main genre. In all of my 2023 listening, I think the only actual Folk Metal release was Skálmöld's Ydalir, which I liked but wasn't anything to write to MA about unless you're really craving some Viking Metal. There was that Kostnatění release, Úpal that used Folk elements as the backbone of its songwriting but not in a Folk Metal way, so that was another win for wonky Black Metal rather than Folk Metal. I'm just waiting for the new Moonsorrow album. That's coming out, right guys? Any day now. 

I'll be giving Sagas another run here today, as I remember it being very good but very long.