Initial Impressions: Saxorior: Volkerschlacht

I admit, this band was not what I thought it would be. I first heard the band a couple of years back when they appeared on a sampler CD in an issue of Metal Maniacs. There was also a brief article on the band. I was, for some reason, under the impression that they were much more of a folk black metal band. I was wrong. Saxorior plays melodic black metal. But, they play it real well and incorporate some interesting elements.

The band certainly doesn't make its genre of music obvious from the album cover, featuring an 18th century battle on horseback. It's the kind of thing you see from Arghoslent covers as well. Nevertheless, once you get past that album artwork, on comes the blackened onslaught.

The lead-in track features some snare drumming similar to that of the British in the Revolutionary War. Bit it leads into something far more sinister-sounding. The drum patterns do continue throughout and there are frequent parts that sound like battle hymns. There are some elements of music that can be considered folk-inspired, but the majority of the music is strongly based around black metal.

This was a sleeper release a couple of years back for this German band. It's another of those rare gems that can be uncovered with a little bit of digging. It's an extremely interesting album and well worth the listen.