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The Best Folk / Pagan / Viking Metal Album - Metal Storm Awards 2023


1.  Primordial - How It Ends 280
2.  Cruachan - The Living And The Dead 75
3.  Grymheart - Hellish Hunt 55
4.  Árstíðir Lífsins - Hermalausaz 38
5.  At The Altar Of The Horned God - Heart Of Silence 29
6.  Ershetu - Xibalba 28
7.  Lyrre - Not All Who Dream Are Asleep 24
8.  E-an-na - Alveolar 22
9.  Fredlös - Fredlös 20
10.  Marthe - Further In Evil 14
  Arkona - Kob' (write-in vote) 14
12.  Finsterforst - Jenseits (write-in vote) 11
13.  Myrkur - Spine (write-in vote) 10
Total votes:
663



Some bands look at the concept of EPs and still deliver something more fleshed out than other bands' albums. Though it's something that would feel more common for black or doom metal, folk metal bands are no slouches, and what a better way for Iceland's Árstíðir Lífsins to follow up their two-part Saga Á Tveim Tungum album series than with a relatively concise offering that still showcases just how effective they are in constructing epic and immersive soundscapes, the kind where the listening experience does indeed feel like a journey.

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After making such a striking impression with the unique debut album Through Doors Of Moonlight, At The Altar Of The Horned God’s Heolstor is back with another fascinating concoction, encompassing neofolk, black metal, and dark ambience. On Heart Of Silence, the black metal is arguably more refined, with a more polished production to match, while the ambient neofolk shifts more to the forefront of the album’s composition. With an array of chanted, sung, spoken word, and harsh vocals providing narration, Heart Of Silence is potently spiritual, finding a perfect balance between blackened harshness and ritualistic atmosphere.

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Eurovision may continue to disdain Cruachan, but there are still those of us interested in a more authentic image of Ireland than twee riverdancing leprechauns. From day one, Cruachan have been dedicated to instituting a distinctly Irish identity in metal, and even after more than 30 years each album seems to build upon the last with more powerful production and more refined songwriting. Though the band has largely grown away from the purest black metal stylings of its origins into a more melodic heavy metal grounding for all the fiddling and flutes, a great deal of roughness and sourness remain – even the clean vocals and catchiest choruses are abrasive, dark, and equally tragic as celebratory, lest we get too comfortable with all this “luck of the Irish” bullshit and forget that there’s little in the world more brutal than the histories that these songs relate.

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In spite of how prolific E-an-na have seemed, Alveolar is only their second full-length album, and you'd be right to expect that applying that distinction again signals something special. Alveolar has incredible flow: the entire album could be a single song, flinging itself from one impassioned dance to another without a moment's rest. And it could well be E-an-na's most polished and sophisticated work to date, judging by the unassailable cool with which it slides from tango to breakdown, breakdown to tango; it leans heavier on the Romanian folk elements than Nesfârşite and a little lighter on the heaviness, slipping into some reflective ambiance from time to time. It is mostly an incredible energy dump, though: the finger-cramping instrumentation and rapturously multiplicative vocals are deceptively playful, bouncing around giddy choruses with wild freedom, but they're meticulously measured, and the impossible synchronicity they all achieve in mirroring each other is just folk music at its very best.

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Ershetu is a new project from Debemur Morti Productions founder and project conceptualist/lyricist Void, who works alongside composer Sacr to explore concepts of death within different human civilizations. The first civilization selected, the Mayans, provided the theme for debut album Xibalba, which is a unique and rich spin on folk black metal, combining fierce blackened instrumentation with an array of folk instruments. Sacr and Void are joined on Xibalba by Blut Aus Nord’s Vindsval and iconic singer Lars Nedland (Borknagar, Solefald), and it is Nedlund’s vocals that add that extra special spice to an already alluring musical concept, injecting passion and drama into these frenetic yet enchanting sonic vistas.

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There are probably many reasons why Scandinavians have for so long had such a central place in folk metal production, but one surefire connection is that Scandinavian folk can be quite bleak, foreboding, and unsettling on its own: of course it would go hand-in-hand with another form of music so shrouded in darkness. The vast, grand, and imposing frame of doom metal elevates Fredlös's laments, delivered by Liv Hope's stirring solo or by massive choirs, giving force to the painful dirges wrought in a modern-Arkona-like manner of murky grimness. Fredlös's debut is also a more authentic experience than you often find masquerading under the "folk metal" label, frequently handing the lead melodies to an aching violin that actually bears some traditional know-how and ditching the standard comic-book Vikings for sorrowful tales from medieval Swedish history. This album is lengthy, punishing, unforgiving, and dark, but hey... that's history for you.

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Turns out in addition to the language family there's a Finno-Ugric metal scene as well. Hungary's Grymheart are newcomers, although you certainly couldn't tell from how tightly performed and beautifully written their debut album is, and while there are shades of fellow Magyars Dalriada at the brightest edges of their heart-pounding choruses and the fleetest dances of their folksy melodies, the sound of Hellish Hunt is largely that of northern neighbors Ensiferum. The furious epic riffage, stately gang-vocal refrains, and tempestuous speed are all extreme power to a T, and there's even a bit of Children Of Bodom attitude punching through here and there for good measure. There's a lot more to Grymheart than the same tropes that have been ridden to the ground, though, and a lot more fun, with some less extreme power metal coming through in the more melodic and uplifting passages and, of course, a lot of folk music moderating everything with some homestyle accentuations that they just don't have up there in the Finnish wastes.

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After a successful two-album stint in Eluveitie, hurdy-gurdy-player Michalina Malisz departed to front her own band, Lyrre. While the hurdy-gurdy is still a rare enough instrument in metal that expectations based on her erstwhile band are more likely than usual, and Malisz's headstrong yet hypnotic voice will also incite some more specific comparisons to the woman she initially replaced, Lyrre has set out to discover a different shade of hand-cranked folk metal, choosing more of a murky alternative sound rather than Gothenburg-style melodeath as the metal basis, and of course the hurdy-gurdy is even more central with less competition in the mix. Not All Who Dream Are Asleep sews delicate, dreamlike verses to choruses that burst with dark energy, making a promising debut for another uncommon approach to folk metal.

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What could be further in evil than Bathory? Probably nothing, but we’re three and a half decades too late to nominate Blood Fire Death, so we’ve found the next best candidate and given the honor to Marthe, who makes her fully solo debut with this album. Like those classic masterpieces that codified the concept of “Viking metal” so long ago, Further In Evil roots itself in simple but momentous chords with heroic rhythms, the bloodthirsty eagerness of metal on the cusp of crossing from “heavy” to “extreme”, and touches of Scandinavian folk aesthetics that conjure the mountainsides these riffs seem to be perpetually marching down. For “a ride alone”, this is as complete and portentous a work as it sets out to be, and Marthe’s mastery of the trudging riff and ragged growl will push Further In Evil straight into the black heart of anyone who was awaiting the dawn of a new doombringer.

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If this is How It Ends, then Primordial has nothing to be ashamed about. One of the world’s most well-regarded metal bands digs a hole in the ground, puts a flag in it, gathers some rocks around it, and (allegedly/perhaps/maybe) calls it a day. This is one of few bands with nothing left to prove, yet it proves it can still write epic anthems with unforgettable folk riffs and the ever-present voice of Nemtheanga in songs such as “Ploughs To Rust, Swords To Dust” and “Victory Has 1000 Fathers, Defeat Is An Orphan”. Post-The Gathering Wilderness, and post-To The Nameless Dead, and beyond, Primordial displays a sound that is still very original, very hard-hitting, and very much their own. It is no wonder, then, that this album ended up among our nominations, because the songwriting is excellent, the performance is flawless, and all the feelings Primordial is known for are still all there.

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