Band:	Moonsorrow
Album:	Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa
Style:	Viking folk metal
Release date:	February 2011

01. Tähdetön
02. Hävitetty
03. Muinaiset
04. Nälkä, Väsymys Ja Epätoivo
05. Huuto
06. Kuolleille
07. Kuolleiden Maa

This album is dense. Really dense. So dense, in fact, you could cut the sound waves with a knife. Or a Viking axe, whatever you'd prefer.

Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa opens with the pounding, rumbling intro of "Tähdetön", then opens up into a wide, folk melody, broken up by heathen chants. That is what to expect of the whole album. It takes you by the balls and never let go.

Did I mention the sound was huge? Because it is. If you want ambiance, if you want vast pounding rhythms, if you want choir (not too heavy, just right), this is the album for you. Don't like your folk metal with a lot of Parmesan? Here is where you should start. WIth Moonsorrow.

The music itself is not complicated, but the sound is very complex and intricate; there is a lot going on. While the guitarist might be strumming power chords, there might be a keyboard melody, coupled with a violin, and with some background choir, or with a guitar playing a folk melody on top of it. And this is in constant transition. Just when you think you have a grasp on the song, where it's going to go, it changes. You can't stop yourself from thinking, "Wow, that was unexpected".

Instruments flow in and out as the song moves along. The drums in particular are very impressive; though not complicated, it is a very unique style of drumming. Very low and deep sounding, very riff oriented in that they move often with the melody as opposed being stuck with the rhythm. It's all very well combined into a uniform piece of music.

How could they have topped it? Fewer intros. While the intros are interesting and do add a certain something-something to the album, it just feels like a bit much. A lot of heavy breathing and footsteps in the woods and/or snow. However, the bloodcurdling scream in "Kuolleille" did send shocks down my spine upon hearing it for the first time.

If you were on the fence about listening to Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa I would strongly recommend hiking up your big boy pants and putting in the damn CD already!