Reviewed - 11/13/05
Ancestry
[Stellar Winter Records]
Mother Russia has sure seen its share of great Folk/Viking/Pagan/Slavonic bands popping up all over her landscape in the last three years, and I couldn't be more pleased! I stated in a review or two a while back that it's my belief that Russia has taken over the Folk Metal world, leaving Scandinavia and Germany behind in the dust! There's literally dozens of great Russian Folk Metal bands out there including Pagan Reign, Butterfly Temple, Tumulus, Vrata T'mi... I could go on forever. And if you include the Folk Metal bands from the former Soviet states like Ukraine and whatnot, there's even more! The Russian Slavonik Folk Black Metal act Velimor has been around for a few years it seems, but I have never even heard of them until I got their newest album "Ancestry" a few days ago. I have to tell you, this is some kickass Folk Metal everyone should hear!
The music on "Ancestry" is extremely raw, yet well played Black Metal. Imagine the raw Black Metal acts of the early 90's, add a bit of early Suidakra to the music for a Folky feel, and an ever so slight Thrash delivery, and you get an inkling of what Velimor's music sounds like. There also is quite an acoustic slant to their music due to the fact that there are three songs on the C.D. that are totally acoustic Folk in nature, just utilizing an acoustic guitar and a flute. At times there are two flutes playing at once, but they sound a bit different. Maybe one's a piccolo flute or some sort of whistle or something, I don't know. All I know is it sounds good! In the live photos inside of the booklet, one of the band members is holding some sort of wooden instrument that looks to me like a recorder. I don't hear a recorder on this album, but maybe this instrument is what I'm hearing as that second flute. If you're not a fan of keyboards, than "Ancestry" will appeal to you as there are no keyboards at all on the album. Fans of sound samples/effects in music will love the fact that Velimor offers up quite a few of these on "Ancestry". Some of these sound samples include sounds of battle, horses galloping and neighing, armies clashing on a battle field, swords clanging, and the sounds of hundreds of village people screaming in terror and agony. My favorite sound effects though are those of the arrows flying through the air and hitting their targets. I'm an avid archer, and I can attest that this sounds real as hell. You hear the "twang" of the bow, and then the sound of the arrow slicing the air traveling from the left to the right speaker. How cool is that?
The vocals on "Ancestry" are in a very easy to digest Black Metal style. The vocalist does nothing overly spectacular, but he's better than most similar vocalists and his style fits the music well. The lyrics are all in Russian, and since I can't decipher the Cyrillic alphabet I unfortunately can't comment on the lyrical content. My best guess would be they are Pagan, and about the band's heritage. Also, they are supporters of The Pagan Front as well as the Slavonik Heathen Front, so take that info as you will.
The production on the album is decent. Everything sounds damn near perfect except that I think they could have used a bit more bass and low end on the overall sound of this album. That said, it's not that bad at all really. I've definitely heard albums that have sounded worse! The acoustic guitar parts were recorded well and sound exquisite!
The packaging and layout I like a lot, though since there is not a single word in English, a lot of what lies within the booklet is lost on me. The cover art that shows a mountainous forest scene rules and is colored so well it looks real at a distance. Inside the booklet you'll find all of the lyrics (printed in Russian), as well as some medieval styled drawings and a few band photos.
Folk Metal fans that don't like "fruity" keyboard passages in their music will really enjoy what "Ancestry" has to offer! This is a traditionalist's Folk Metal album as there isn't anything on the album that makes it sound too modern. The band also thankfully spent some time making sure the album sounded good, which is what should always be done in my opinion (but rarely is). Doing research on the band, I found out that they have a few more albums out that I definitely will track down as "Ancestry" blew me away. Russia can keep right on sending us these great Folk Metal bands. Most of them, like Velimor, are excellent, so I'll take all I can get!
[Stellar Winter Records]
Mother Russia has sure seen its share of great Folk/Viking/Pagan/Slavonic bands popping up all over her landscape in the last three years, and I couldn't be more pleased! I stated in a review or two a while back that it's my belief that Russia has taken over the Folk Metal world, leaving Scandinavia and Germany behind in the dust! There's literally dozens of great Russian Folk Metal bands out there including Pagan Reign, Butterfly Temple, Tumulus, Vrata T'mi... I could go on forever. And if you include the Folk Metal bands from the former Soviet states like Ukraine and whatnot, there's even more! The Russian Slavonik Folk Black Metal act Velimor has been around for a few years it seems, but I have never even heard of them until I got their newest album "Ancestry" a few days ago. I have to tell you, this is some kickass Folk Metal everyone should hear!
The music on "Ancestry" is extremely raw, yet well played Black Metal. Imagine the raw Black Metal acts of the early 90's, add a bit of early Suidakra to the music for a Folky feel, and an ever so slight Thrash delivery, and you get an inkling of what Velimor's music sounds like. There also is quite an acoustic slant to their music due to the fact that there are three songs on the C.D. that are totally acoustic Folk in nature, just utilizing an acoustic guitar and a flute. At times there are two flutes playing at once, but they sound a bit different. Maybe one's a piccolo flute or some sort of whistle or something, I don't know. All I know is it sounds good! In the live photos inside of the booklet, one of the band members is holding some sort of wooden instrument that looks to me like a recorder. I don't hear a recorder on this album, but maybe this instrument is what I'm hearing as that second flute. If you're not a fan of keyboards, than "Ancestry" will appeal to you as there are no keyboards at all on the album. Fans of sound samples/effects in music will love the fact that Velimor offers up quite a few of these on "Ancestry". Some of these sound samples include sounds of battle, horses galloping and neighing, armies clashing on a battle field, swords clanging, and the sounds of hundreds of village people screaming in terror and agony. My favorite sound effects though are those of the arrows flying through the air and hitting their targets. I'm an avid archer, and I can attest that this sounds real as hell. You hear the "twang" of the bow, and then the sound of the arrow slicing the air traveling from the left to the right speaker. How cool is that?
The vocals on "Ancestry" are in a very easy to digest Black Metal style. The vocalist does nothing overly spectacular, but he's better than most similar vocalists and his style fits the music well. The lyrics are all in Russian, and since I can't decipher the Cyrillic alphabet I unfortunately can't comment on the lyrical content. My best guess would be they are Pagan, and about the band's heritage. Also, they are supporters of The Pagan Front as well as the Slavonik Heathen Front, so take that info as you will.
The production on the album is decent. Everything sounds damn near perfect except that I think they could have used a bit more bass and low end on the overall sound of this album. That said, it's not that bad at all really. I've definitely heard albums that have sounded worse! The acoustic guitar parts were recorded well and sound exquisite!
The packaging and layout I like a lot, though since there is not a single word in English, a lot of what lies within the booklet is lost on me. The cover art that shows a mountainous forest scene rules and is colored so well it looks real at a distance. Inside the booklet you'll find all of the lyrics (printed in Russian), as well as some medieval styled drawings and a few band photos.
Folk Metal fans that don't like "fruity" keyboard passages in their music will really enjoy what "Ancestry" has to offer! This is a traditionalist's Folk Metal album as there isn't anything on the album that makes it sound too modern. The band also thankfully spent some time making sure the album sounded good, which is what should always be done in my opinion (but rarely is). Doing research on the band, I found out that they have a few more albums out that I definitely will track down as "Ancestry" blew me away. Russia can keep right on sending us these great Folk Metal bands. Most of them, like Velimor, are excellent, so I'll take all I can get!
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Tracklist:
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| Rating: 8.5/10 | |
| Release Date: 2005 | |
| Length: 39:39 | |
| Review By: Britton Dicks | |
| Total Reviews: (1) | |
| Bands Website: Go Here | |
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