Year in Metal: 2001

One of these days, I will get this series caught up.

AMORPHIS: AM UNIVERSUM
Amorphis continued to change their sound on this release, abandoning almost all of their prior death metal influences for a much more progressive and even psychedelic sound. Nevertheless, this remains a terrific album from the band. I actually prefer their more progressive metal sound to their death metal roots, but I may be in the minority there. The additions of the saxophone to several parts, especially the baritone sax in the last track, is my favorite part of this release. I used to play the sax in high school.

FINNTROLL: JAKTENS TID
This was the first folk metal album I ever heard, and I got it in a grab bag from Century Media. As it is, I cannot think of a better introduction into the world of folk metal. There is certainly more than enough influences from death and black metal here as well as the folk melodies. It does not stray too far into folk territory, clearly resting on the metal side of the fence. It is also catchy and memorable. A great introduction to this scene.

MOONSPELL: DARKNESS AND HOPE
Moonspell is another band whose sound is constantly evolving. On this release, the band has adopted more of a dark, gothic metal sound. This was the first album by the Portuguese band I had heard and it got me very interested in checking out further releases. This is a slower, somber, and darkly beautiful release. Vocalist Fernando Ribeiro's deep, soothing baritone is the highlight of the album. Moonspell even does a decent job at covering Ozzy's "Mr. Crowley" on this.

OPETH: BLACKWATER PARK
Often considered Opeth's masterpiece, this one is not my favorite but it is definitely up there. The band's fifth album features one of their most complete and well-formed combinations of their progressive rock side and their death metal side. This is definitely the album to point to as the best summation of the band's sound. It is a great album, full of excellent instrumental passages and of course Mikael Akerfeldt's terrific voice. It's not my favorite Opeth album, but it is amazing all the same.

SONATA ARCTICA: SILENCE
I have a bit of a soft spot for romantic, powerful European power metal and Sonata Arctica can definitely deliver on that. When they are not playing ballads on this release, their music is extremely fast and infectious. But the ballads also shine brightly on this album. "Tallulah" in particular is a very emotional song. This is a long album, but it never feels long. It is instead, an impressive take on European power metal and one of the best albums in the scene in my opinion.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: ARCH ENEMY: WAGES OF SIN, ICED EARTH: HORROR SHOW, MEGADETH: THE WORLD NEEDS A HERO, SLAYER: GOD HATES US ALL.

BANDS THAT FORMED IN 2001: The Black Dahlia Murder, Dragonlord.

Folk Metal

Folk metal has exploded over the last couple of years. Up until just a couple of years ago, one could count on one hand the number of folk metal bands that were making a major impact in the metal landscape. Skyclad and Ensiferum were arguably the first folk metal bands, although folk influences were present in the works of Amorphis, Moonspell, Rotting Christ, and Satyricon as well. Recently though, it seems like there is a new folk metal band popping up daily. Folk metal gets its name from bands who use traditional folk instrumentation and rhythms in their music. It can run the gamut from Celtic to Humppa to Russian depending only on where the band is from or draws its influences. Here are just a few bands that are flying the folk metal flag:

BORKNAGAR

Borknagar was the first folk metal band I had heard. The band plays a mix of black metal, viking metal, and folk metal. Most of the folk influences can be heard in the rhythms of the music. The vocals are typical black metal rasping, however there are clean vocals present as well. The band has gone through several different vocalists including Garm from Ulver, ICS Vortex from Dimmu Borgir, and currently Vintersorg from the self-named band. All of the vocalists have in common their ability to go from a rasp to a spine-tingling clean tone without any hesitation. The band has been blessed with these unique vocalists.

MELECHESH

Melechesh is probably my favorite of the bands I will discuss today. The band has developed an uncanny ability to take Middle Eastern rhythms and melodies and spin it into their black/death metal, creating a sound like no one else. Melechesh is originally from Jerusalem, Israel but create music based around Sumerian and Mesopotamian mythology. The band has been forced to relocate to The Netherlands to escape problems with the religious culture of their homeland. Melechesh has put together a couple of amazing albums that are personal favorites of mine.

FINNTROLL

Finntroll is the one of the first real folk metal bands I heard. I received their album Jaktens Tid in a Century Media Grab Bag. Pretty good use of money, actually. Finntroll combines Finnish humppa music (the folk music part of things) with black and melodic death metal influences. The lyrics are all in Swedish (bizarre as the band is from Finland, hence the name). Finntroll has had some extraordinarily bad luck with members. One singer left due to having a tumor on his vocal chords, another was fired from the band, and the original guitarist died after falling off a bridge (possible suicide). That being said, Finntroll's music is fun beer metal. The music has a good beat and is fast and surprisingly uplifting. The frequent folk parts make things bounce a little bit. The vocals are delivered mostly in a black metal style rasp, particularly with current singer Vreth, previously they were closer to death metal. Interesting stuff.

THE LORD WEIRD SLOUGH FEG

The name is strange enough. Thankfully they have recently shortened it to Slough Feg. The band is one of the most original-sounding bands in America today. Rising out of the San Francisco scene, Slough Feg combines classic rock, traditional metal, and Celtic music. The band essentially sounds like Thin Lizzy on steroids. The band essentially belongs to singer Mike Scalzi who has one of the more recognizable voices in metal. A great, underrated band.

ORPHANED LAND

Orphaned Land, like Melechesh, is from Israel. This band however does not play the same style of extreme blackened death metal as Melechesh, choosing instead to base their folk rhythms and melodies into progressive metal with occasional death and doom influences. Orphaned Land go so far as to create concept albums, their most memorable of which tells the story of Gilgamesh. It is seriously one of the most beautiful metal albums in existence. An amazing album that will take the listener's breath away.

CRUACHAN

When I first became aware of folk metal, I wanted to find bands that dealt with Celtic and Irish folk music. Cruachan is one of those bands. Cruachan focus more on their folk influences than their metal influences on the only album I have heard from them. There are actually only a couple of clearly metal songs on the album. However, the interplay between the male and female vocals and the Irish rhythms is amazing. A very good album, despite the relative lack of metal.

PRIMORDIAL

Primordial is similar to Cruachan in that they play Celtic/Irish folk metal, but this band is far more on the metal side of things. However, where Cruachan is often light-hearted and free, Primordial is dark and depressive. The band's metal influences come from black metal, and while the singer typically uses a clean vocal style, he will unleash an ear piercing scream once in awhile. They lyrics are sad, dealing with lost battles and loved ones perishing in them. The pain of the lyrics comes through in Nemtheanga's heart-wrenching vocal performance.

ELUVEITIE

Eluveitie is a band from Switzerland that plays melodic death metal mixed Celtic folk influences. Next to Melechesh, Eluveitie is probably my favorite folk metal band, due mostly to my interest in melodic death. The band uses traditional instrumentation such as bagpipes, whistles, and even the hurdy gurdy to play lilting melodies over the top of the Gothenburg style guitar riffs. Vocals are growled in classic At the Gates/In Flames fashion and the occasional non-metal track comes across beautifully with female clean vocals.

HOLLENTHON

Hollenthon is a very strange band. Coming out of Austria, the band plays a sort of symphonic/orchestral/folk/melodic death/black metal. It's tough to tell from one song to the next which style will dominate. Their music is very interesting and fun to listen to as they continue to keep the listener guessing. Hollenthon is a very good, underrated band that sounds like few others.

SKYCLAD

Skyclad was one of the first folk metal bands, if not the first. The band was formed by Martin Walkyier, formerly of the massively underrated UK thrash metal band Sabbat. Skyclad had the idea to combine folk elements from Scotland, England, and Ireland into traditional and thrash metal and fronted by the unmistakeable staccato shouting of vocalist Walkyier. The sound was new and exciting and influenced a ton of other bands after some time. However, until recently not many people noticed, which is a shame.

ENSIFERUM

Ensiferum formed in 1995 in Finland, the major breeding ground for folk metal. The band played viking/folk metal influenced mostly by later Bathory. The folk elements mostly come in the form of the rhythms as the instrumentation is typical for metal. The band plays quickly, allowing for a few acoustic interludes here and there. Ensiferum was at the forefront of the rise in interest in folk metal. Guitarist Jari Maenpaa left the band and formed Wintersun, another great band with only occasional folk influences.

ARKONA

There are two bands named Arkona from Russia. This band is the pagan/folk metal band fronted by Masha "Scream" Arhipova. The band plays using Russian folk melodies delivered in heavy guitar riffs. Masha has an amazing voice and can sing, scream, growl, and more. Arkona also incorporates flutes and bagpipes in their music.