For better or worse the Estonian nation is always going to be remembered by this writer as the country that didn't show up for a
World Cup Qualifier against Scotland back in the 90's.
However on closer inspection it seems that Estonia is in possession of a pretty healthy metal scene (check out the site
www.estonianmetal.com for a comprehensive guide).
Metsatöll are one of the bands at the forefront of that scene, they have been plying their own folk metal furrow since 1999 and
Äio,
their latest release on the popular Spinefarm label, is a strong representation of their particular style.
My first introduction to the band was when they toured with Ensiferium earlier on in the year. The bands panache for utilising traditional Estonian instruments caught my ear and they were instantly marked as a band I wanted to explore further.
Äio starts with the gentle acoustic intro before the first full song
Kui Rebeneb Taevas kicks in. You will instantly notice it's quite a bit heavier than the folk metal standard with a mighty kick drum sound and chunky bass riffs, both of which pervade pretty much every inch of the album.
This heavier sound gives the band music a more controlled, almost martial feel at points. Indeed the vocals of Markus are always delivered in a deliberate, deep voice which seems to convey a pretty serious message, I say "seems" as with all the lyrics being in Estonian I'm not a fully up on all the themes of the album. Although a quick glance at the English translations would suggest unity, bravery, war and loyalty weigh heavily on the bands psyche.
Some of the bands music could almost be described as progressive in places, a track like the crushing three minute title track crams a wistful folk melody on top of some of drummer Marko Atso's rolling fills and fairly technical tempo changes backed by twisting, turning riffs and layered vocals. It's an approach that works quite well and places them alongside bands such as the like-minded Týr, rather than the less serious Korpiklaani's of this world.
Although in saying this, the band are unafraid to strip it all back to the very basics in tracks like
Kuni Pole Kodus, Olen Kaugel Teel where they pare down their music to an acoustic guitar and traditional singing styles and instrumentation courtesy of multi instrumentalist Lauri. In this song and others throughout the album he uses instruments like the torupill (the Estonian equivalent of the bagpipes), flutes, kannel, ängipill and mouth harp which help create a very laid back, old world atmosphere.
However the album has a couple of problems, one of the these being that despite the majority of the songs being pretty short, there are fourteen of them, meaning that the album has a running time of just a shade over an hour.
This leads to points that all but the most ardent of followers to the bands style will glance at their watches in the middle of the album as another mid-paced riff follows slow singing section. This is compounded by the fact that the production can make the material on offer a seem a little dry on occasion. However if you can get into the flow of the album (not always an easy task admittedly) then the bulk of it will hold your attention pretty well.
Where the album fairs much better is it's end section, the last four or so songs really show a great amount of invention, for example
Roju brings in some intense riffs and stomping drums with an addictive chorus,
Kabelimatsid combines thrash and flute led passages with ease and
Verijää has some superb, heavy musical passages and even some guitar leads reminiscent of Iron Maiden.
This all leads onto the mighty last track
Jõud, which is almost five minutes of strident riffing and backing choirs that stirs the soul and creates an excellent end of the album. Markus' voice really soars on this one and makes you wish he let himself go more on the album. Indeed, if
Metsatöll had been able to construct a few more in this mould then they might have had a real classic on their hands.
As it is, Äio is still a rather fine record, let down perhaps by a lack of pacing. The band are obviously very committed to their music and style although I think that if they spread their wings and let loose their epic tendencies a little more often they could create a new, defining work in their genre.
Written by
Stuart Tuesday, May 18, 2010
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