Excellent Symphonic Folk Metal from Finland!

Artist: Kivimetsän Druidi
Album: Shadowheart
Year: 2008

File Format: mp3
Bit Rate: VBR (~240 kpbs)
File Size: 86 MB
Tracker: http://tracker.piratebayproxy.live:80/announce, udp://tracker.piratebayproxy.live:80/announce
Genre: Symphonic Folk/Pagan Metal w/ female/male vocals.

Tracklist:
1. Northwind (Prelude) (1:29)
2. Blacksmith (6:01)
3. Jäässä Varttunut (5:51)
4. Halls Of Shadowheart (4:36)
5. Pedon Loitsu (5:57)
6. Burden (4:31)
7. The Tyrant (5:44)
8. Tiarnách: Verinummi (2:33) (MISSING, SRY!)
9. Verivala (4:01)
10. Korpin Laulu (5:19)
11. Mustan Valtikan Aika (7:00)

Band Info: http://www.kivimetsandruidi.com/site/
Review: I think that Kivimetsän Druidi will become a very popular band, because they are heavily supported by their sympathetic fellow countrymen of Korpiklaani. Late 2007 they travelled through Europe as support act of the clan from the woods without even having an album out and this winter they will do that again, since they open the festivities during the Finnish Fire tour with Falchion, Battlelore and Korpiklaani. But now with a strong debut album �Shadowheart� in the pocket, for the band inked a record deal with Century Media.

Kivimetsän Druidi was founded in 2002 by the brothers Joni (growls, guitar) and Antti (keyboards) Koskinen. Their main influence then was Moonsorrow. This influence is not really present anymore today, or it should be in the wealthy keyboard arrangements. In the past they recorded numerous demos and EP�s and they have chosen eleven songs for this debut. These eleven songs were rerecorded at the Noise Camp studio in Turku with producer Esa Orjatsalo. Kivimetsän Druidi (Druid of the Stone Forest in English) plays symphonic folk/black metal with gorgeous grunts of guitarist Joni, but they have a female singer as well. Leeni-Maria Hovila is a classical trained vocalist who sang a few lines on the �Hope� album of Swallow The Sun and recently she became the third female singer of the druids. I was not really waiting for soprano vocals in this for the rest quite heavy folk metal and I really hope that female fronted folk/pagan metal bands will not become another trend, because these high-pitched modest vocals got me irritated after a few songs. Mark you, Leeni-Maria sings very well, it is just a matter of taste.

Music-wise this album is magnificent. The symphonic intro passes with a crack into �Blacksmith�, a rigorous black metal eruption with melodious folk melodies in the guitar runs. The songs are rather complex and brim with rhythm changes, so that acoustic guitar parts and keyboards are featured as well. In every song they switch from raucous male growls of Joni to serene chants of Leeni-Maria. A strong composition is �Pedon Loitsu� in which a quiescent piano fragment with female vocals leads towards a huge outburst with growls. Every time it is conspicuous how opulent the songs are arranged and how beautiful this fast metal is supported by keyboard layers. The only moment of tranquillity is the melancholic piano ballad �Tiarnach Verinummi�. Lyrics are partly in Finnish and partly in English, sometimes based on a fantasy story written by Joni. Sturdy male choirs leaps to the eye in �Verivala�. It is followed by the heaviest song of the album called �Korpin Laulu�, kicking off with grandiose blastbeats. �Mustan Valtikan Aika� occludes the album in an adventurous manner. It has a slow start, passes into ultra danceable polka rhythms, female vocals are strangely distorted and finally we hear a marvellous instrumental part with vigorous drums and a fast and furious guitar solo. This is one of the top notch songs of this seminal debut which had scored even higher when using less soprano chants. 

Score: 80/100
Review from: http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showreview.php?id=12558〈=en

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