Svartsot is a Danish folk metal band that sings in its native tongue. The themes on their new album, Ravnenes Saga, which literally means �Saga of the Ravens�, handles about the rich history of Denmark; about courageous feats and battles, feasts, creatures of the murky realms of folklore and the art of womanizing. The title refers to Odin�s two ravens, Hugin and Munin (Thought and Memory). These two ravens would fly out over the world each day to return every evening to relate what they had seen. An interesting little folklore story I�d say.

 

What mainly distinguishes folk metal from other styles of metal is the melody. Not only in the guitar section but � even more � in the sections of the not-so-common instruments, which in this care are the mandolin, bodhran and whistles. It creates certain atmospheres that make you imagining about beautiful castles and wide landscapes in the early days. And what is so great about this music is the more aggressive element of the music; the counterpart of the beautiful melodies. The part that makes you imagining the battles raging on outside the castles or the brawls at the long dinner tables. Some damn nice death metal represents this part of the music.

 

And yes, Svartsot has done an excellent job in creating the kind of music that stimulates your imagination. In general the songs are balanced out really good, using the right combination of the dark and light elements of the music. Sometimes it tends to have more of a calm approach (�Hedens D�tre�) while an other song may have more of a darker (read: musically faster and more aggressive) approach (�Festen�). Anyway, there�s enough things going on in the songs to keep your attention. Add up the raw vocals and you know you�ll be treated on some damn fine folk metal on Ravnenes Saga.     

 

But, as happens with most folk metal bands, you sometimes may get the feeling like you�ve heard it all after a couple of songs. The songs are all different yet somehow a bit the same if you fail to stay fully concentrated. That�s why I try not to listen to this kind of music too often. This way I keep it interesting for myself and I can very well imagine this goes for a lot of people. So, to keep it fun; try it my way and you�ll find that this album is absolutely worth a spin every now and then! One of the better folk metal bands I�ve heard so far!