Review by Josh Felty
Rating: Listen!
Continuing in the theme of Euro-thrash metal, we come to the illustrious Finntroll. Upon first listen, this group conjures up images of a hall full of ghastly, wart-covered trolls in Renaissance garb. It just so happens somebody threw them some Ibanez electric guitars.
No, it wasn't Lemmy Kilmister.
In all honesty, songs like the opening prologue "Blodmarsch" (you guessed it, "Blood March") reminded me instantly of video game music, or at the very least, music with which to bash in troll skulls. This leads right into "Solsagan": part Irish-sounding drinking song, part melee weapon-induced metal madness. But there's more at play on this record than the typical Nordic-metal fare. Instrumentation takes leaps and bounds with various synthesized effects and traditional classical devices (xylophone, anyone?), painting myriads of fantasy-based worlds. And all this amongst some purely insane aggro-screaming, courtesty of Finland's own.
To put it simply, this is just the meal ticket Renaissance fairs need to embrace. There's lutes, lyres, flutes, violins, you name it and it all surprisingly meshes quite well; take the song "Galgasng" ("Gallow Song"), for example. And all in that Nordic tongue, no less. Of course, one of my favorite sort of groups, Flogging Molly, combines the traditional Scots-Irish music with punk. So it's safe to say, I loved Nifelvind.
I really hope this music gets utilized one day in some sort of medieval video game or Lord of the Rings adaptation. Sure, it's hardcore as all hell, but it also forges some of that primal (perhaps tribal) urge to pick up a warhammer and take to some remote battlefield. But in your mind's eye, you're facing a thousand hordes of dwarves and trolls for the freedom of some exquisite elf princess. The riffs and compositions on every track are truly ear-candy, which is a thing to behold in this day and age of processed sounds and radio edits.
And what's one better, Finntroll's lyrics deal with various fictional exploits of a legendary troll fighting against Christian invaders. So if you're feeling froggy on translating Swedish and are in need of some epic storytelling, have at it.
Bottom line, give these guys a listen and use your imagination. Just remember to wake from your Finnish-metal stupor and don't invite back any cavetrolls.