Finntroll – Nifelvind (2010)

After releasing “Ur Jordens Djup” in 2007, Finntroll reached ‘world fame’ and became one of the most recognized bands in the Folk Metal genre. The band been touring both Europe and the USA since that album non-stop and finally we get a new release this 2010.

“Nifelvind” shows why this horde of crazy Finish people incites the masses to consume beer and party with their music. The album features eleven tracks of very solid Folk Metal that will surely please every single fan of the band since it caries with the band’s traditional sound.

Finntroll is not as complex as other Folk Metal bands out there and does not use a wide variety of traditional elements (like Eluveitie and others). They rely on keyboard arrangements to do the ‘fancy’ instruments work, while they focus on a more Metal sounding melodic aspect to their music. We do prefer bands that play Folk Metal to actually use the real instruments instead of using synth’s and samples to fill this requirement. Watching Eluveitie and Finntroll are completely different experiences, and for a more Folk’ish experience we would pick hands down Eluveitie.

While some might say the band is toning down their sound and making it more accessible to broader audiences, we beg to differ since there are still plenty of aggressive songs like “I Tradens Sang”. But they do have more melodic passages in their music and a more bombastic edge to their sound than before. This just adds more touches of ‘Folk’ elements in our opinion and does not take away from the band’s older sound.

The band has managed to keep up to the expectations people has from their last albums, and has delivered a very solid release. The whole album flows very nicely and all songs sound different to each other, something we really appreciate since we hate albums that feel like one long boring song. Musically the band is very good and all band members put it their two cents and help create very solid songs that will make people move like trolls on heat.

If you are looking for a good Folk Metal release look no further, with “Nifelvind” you can’t ask for anything better. But if you are a purist of the genre and like a wide variety, and authenticity of Folk musical instruments then go and get a different album since you will only find synth’s in this one.

Release: March 9th, 2010

Country: Finland