Reviewed - 01/11/05
Warriors Of The Northern Lands
[Hate Productions]
I don't know how many times over the last year I've thought that Russia (and former Soviet states) is hastily overtaking Finland as the top producing regions of quality folk, Viking and pagan metal. This theory of mine was confirmed a bit more yet again when I picked up and listened to the new album "Warriors Of The Northern Lands" by Russia's Vrata T'mi. I tell you what, this is one fine album here, my friends!
What you can look forward to listening to within this album is far above average Slavonic black metal in the vein of Butterfly Temple, who also happen to be Russian. Also, I find myself hearing a lot of influences coming from such bands as Suidakra and Mithotyn as well as a few other top notch Viking metal bands. "Slavonic" black metal, to those that don't know any better, is basically what we in the US would consider as being very similar to Viking metal in sound, so you can see where the references to the Viking metal bands I listed come into play here. The music is very epic in scope and sounds just like something I'd want to listen to if I was ever to go to battle with sword and shield. It just has a way of making you feel proud and brave and it is a pleasure to listen to at all times. The music ranges from fairly fast to a mid-tempo-to-slow pace that remains always rooted in the Slavonic (or Viking) style at all times. There are absolutely no traditional instruments to be found here and everything that lends itself to the viking-esque sound of the album is done entirely by guitar melodies alone. While there are some keyboard parts, they are used sparingly as a backdrop to the music and thankfully the band doesn't try to use them to recreate the sounds of traditional folk instruments. The standout musician on the album is their drummer Foont. This guy has to be heard to be believed because while he has a traditional drum kit, his drumming style makes it sound like he's playing with tribal or "battle" drums for some reason. Either way, he kicks ass and his style of playing sure helps to further along the Viking aspect of the rest of the music.
The lyrics are written in and sung in Russian, and even though I cannot read or understand a damn word of the lyrics I can just tell that the lyrics probably tell of ancient tales of heroic battles and the long lost medieval way of life. Their vocalist, who is proudly named simply as "Torch" does an excellent job with the various styles of singing he does on this album. When music like this that is trying to create that "old timey" feeling within the listener, a bad vocalist can ruin the listening experience for the duration of the entire album. Like say you have music that is medieval sounding but your vocalist is singing in a totally modern raw black metal style, it ruins the atmosphere of the album in my opinion. Torch does an excellent job of singing in a variety of ways from a raw style to a clean style to even a choral style where he is joined by other members of the band. Whatever he's doing, he still can maintain that all important thread of ancientness that runs through all of his vocals.
All of the instruments and vocals are represented extremely well here due to a great production by Alexander Pankratov. Who is Alexander Pankratov, you ask? Hell if I know, but not only did he produce this album, he was also a guest guitarist for many of the songs on "Warriors Of The Northern Lands". I'm assuming he must be a guitarist from another Russian metal band, but I can't be for sure. He seems to do a great job in the production area, that's for sure.
The packaging and layout are fucking perfect! I only have one small gripe, and that is the cover of the album. It is cool as hell and shows a small army of medieval warriors gathered in a field next to a river just outside a forest, but something's amiss. Something the band should have caught! If you look closely behind the group of men, you can make out a full blown modern village in the distance complete with modern housing and powerlines. Ha, I'm just nitpicking and it's not that big of a deal, but it kind of ruins the whole ancient atmosphere the album and photography tries to convey. It also goes to show that there's hardly a place left on Earth that man hasn't made his presence known. A pity, really. Anyway, the Vrata T'mi logo is cool as hell and is shown here done in a wooden design with a little pic of a shield that depicts a Viking ship sailing the seas on it. The inside of the booklet is even better! Inside you'll find a bunch of medieval soldiers in various battle scenes, and this is just so much better to look at than a photo of a guy with a sword posing in the forest like most of these photos are in metal C.D. booklets. There's a few pictures of chain mail clad warriors battling one on one in fields, there's one photo of a warrior delivering the final death blow to an enemy soldier and then there's my favorite photo of a group of warriors using an old ladder made of logs to scale the wall of an ancient castle. Yeah, these guys know how to do photography right for their albums. Also, all of their armor and weapons look legitimate and the fifty or so different shields the warriors are using that are shown within the booklet are all very colorful and have attractive designs painted on them. These spiral designs were put on old shields to direct the enemy's sword and an axe blows away from the weakest part of the shield. Add to this a few band photos and some nature landscape photos, as well as all of the lyrics (In Russian), and you have what I think is one of the top three album layouts of 2004.
I have four words for you: "Go get this now!". Russian music was shut off to most of the world or most of the world shut it off to themselves up until about fifteen years ago or so, so it sure is a treat to hear all of these great new Russian Viking and folk metal bands come out at such a rapid pace. This Russian Slavonic "Viking" metal has a vibe all its own, and Vrata T'mi is one of the best bands to get into first if you are interested in checking this style of metal out. "Warriors Of The Northern Lands" is their debut full length album, and that's almost unbelievable seeing as how good and professional it is. I can't imagine how great they will be on their future albums when they get a bit more time under the belts as a band.
[Hate Productions]
I don't know how many times over the last year I've thought that Russia (and former Soviet states) is hastily overtaking Finland as the top producing regions of quality folk, Viking and pagan metal. This theory of mine was confirmed a bit more yet again when I picked up and listened to the new album "Warriors Of The Northern Lands" by Russia's Vrata T'mi. I tell you what, this is one fine album here, my friends!
What you can look forward to listening to within this album is far above average Slavonic black metal in the vein of Butterfly Temple, who also happen to be Russian. Also, I find myself hearing a lot of influences coming from such bands as Suidakra and Mithotyn as well as a few other top notch Viking metal bands. "Slavonic" black metal, to those that don't know any better, is basically what we in the US would consider as being very similar to Viking metal in sound, so you can see where the references to the Viking metal bands I listed come into play here. The music is very epic in scope and sounds just like something I'd want to listen to if I was ever to go to battle with sword and shield. It just has a way of making you feel proud and brave and it is a pleasure to listen to at all times. The music ranges from fairly fast to a mid-tempo-to-slow pace that remains always rooted in the Slavonic (or Viking) style at all times. There are absolutely no traditional instruments to be found here and everything that lends itself to the viking-esque sound of the album is done entirely by guitar melodies alone. While there are some keyboard parts, they are used sparingly as a backdrop to the music and thankfully the band doesn't try to use them to recreate the sounds of traditional folk instruments. The standout musician on the album is their drummer Foont. This guy has to be heard to be believed because while he has a traditional drum kit, his drumming style makes it sound like he's playing with tribal or "battle" drums for some reason. Either way, he kicks ass and his style of playing sure helps to further along the Viking aspect of the rest of the music.
The lyrics are written in and sung in Russian, and even though I cannot read or understand a damn word of the lyrics I can just tell that the lyrics probably tell of ancient tales of heroic battles and the long lost medieval way of life. Their vocalist, who is proudly named simply as "Torch" does an excellent job with the various styles of singing he does on this album. When music like this that is trying to create that "old timey" feeling within the listener, a bad vocalist can ruin the listening experience for the duration of the entire album. Like say you have music that is medieval sounding but your vocalist is singing in a totally modern raw black metal style, it ruins the atmosphere of the album in my opinion. Torch does an excellent job of singing in a variety of ways from a raw style to a clean style to even a choral style where he is joined by other members of the band. Whatever he's doing, he still can maintain that all important thread of ancientness that runs through all of his vocals.
All of the instruments and vocals are represented extremely well here due to a great production by Alexander Pankratov. Who is Alexander Pankratov, you ask? Hell if I know, but not only did he produce this album, he was also a guest guitarist for many of the songs on "Warriors Of The Northern Lands". I'm assuming he must be a guitarist from another Russian metal band, but I can't be for sure. He seems to do a great job in the production area, that's for sure.
The packaging and layout are fucking perfect! I only have one small gripe, and that is the cover of the album. It is cool as hell and shows a small army of medieval warriors gathered in a field next to a river just outside a forest, but something's amiss. Something the band should have caught! If you look closely behind the group of men, you can make out a full blown modern village in the distance complete with modern housing and powerlines. Ha, I'm just nitpicking and it's not that big of a deal, but it kind of ruins the whole ancient atmosphere the album and photography tries to convey. It also goes to show that there's hardly a place left on Earth that man hasn't made his presence known. A pity, really. Anyway, the Vrata T'mi logo is cool as hell and is shown here done in a wooden design with a little pic of a shield that depicts a Viking ship sailing the seas on it. The inside of the booklet is even better! Inside you'll find a bunch of medieval soldiers in various battle scenes, and this is just so much better to look at than a photo of a guy with a sword posing in the forest like most of these photos are in metal C.D. booklets. There's a few pictures of chain mail clad warriors battling one on one in fields, there's one photo of a warrior delivering the final death blow to an enemy soldier and then there's my favorite photo of a group of warriors using an old ladder made of logs to scale the wall of an ancient castle. Yeah, these guys know how to do photography right for their albums. Also, all of their armor and weapons look legitimate and the fifty or so different shields the warriors are using that are shown within the booklet are all very colorful and have attractive designs painted on them. These spiral designs were put on old shields to direct the enemy's sword and an axe blows away from the weakest part of the shield. Add to this a few band photos and some nature landscape photos, as well as all of the lyrics (In Russian), and you have what I think is one of the top three album layouts of 2004.
I have four words for you: "Go get this now!". Russian music was shut off to most of the world or most of the world shut it off to themselves up until about fifteen years ago or so, so it sure is a treat to hear all of these great new Russian Viking and folk metal bands come out at such a rapid pace. This Russian Slavonic "Viking" metal has a vibe all its own, and Vrata T'mi is one of the best bands to get into first if you are interested in checking this style of metal out. "Warriors Of The Northern Lands" is their debut full length album, and that's almost unbelievable seeing as how good and professional it is. I can't imagine how great they will be on their future albums when they get a bit more time under the belts as a band.
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Tracklist:
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| Rating: 9/10 | |
| Release Date: 2004 | |
| Length: 48:06 | |
| Review By: Britton Dicks | |
| Total Reviews: (1) | |
| Bands Website: Go Here | |
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