Folkearth- Fatherland. the earlier of the two albums they've released recently. folkearth (an international folk metal project) started great with their first two albums, but have seen a steady decline ever since 'drakkars in the mist'. the lineup has changed a lot, and i'm not really a fan of the sizable greek influences heard since 'drakkars in the mist'. the greek mythology and history is fine, i just think they're inferior folk musicians as compared to, for example, the english 'forefather' who were heavily involved in 'a nordic poem' and 'by the sword of my father'. their two previous albums before 'fatherland', 'father of victory' and 'songs of yore' were big disappointments. i hope they realized this and are trying to turn things around, but i'm not expecting much.
1.hymn to zeus
a paleolithic sounding tribal hymn, minimalistic and weird
2.braver than heroes vows (battle of plataea)
i'm all for songs about spartans killing persians, but its impossible to make out what they're saying, but it sounds like its in english (maybe?). folkearth isn't known for their mixing capabilities, but i don't mind the demo tape quality. however, even for making these allowances, it's not a great song.. it's alright.
3.guardian of the bridge
it's a decent folk song, but the guitars are inaudible to a painful amount. it just sounds like distortion. but with better guitars this song would be comparable to the quality of their older songs (similar to 'by the sword of my father' and 'drakkars in the mist')
4.freedom or death (kosovo 1389)
the vocals sound like they were recorded in a bathtub the reverb is so bad. the singer himself is also quite bad. other than that, though, its a nondescript song. only an instrumental midsection to note.
5.terror from the sea
i wish these vocalists stuck to growled vocals when they're bad singers. so far i've noticed folkearth now seems to shy away from synths and keyboards and rely more on actual folk instruments such as flutes or fiddles to add the folk dimension. i feel this is to their detriment. having atmospheric backing keys adds a lot to a song and could really help these songs seem less raw and impoverished.
6.fatherland
a ballad. i hear two acoustic guitars, accordion, flute, and bass. a beautiful melody, but they REALLY need better singers.
7.the fall of atlantis
growled vocals save me the pain of hearing whoever does the male clean vocals. again, the only clear folk influence is the presence of flute.
8.the victory rune
an alright song, but you can hear all too well the scratching of the pick from the guitars.
9.in blessed days
another terrible singer, but at least i can hear what he's saying.
10.cataphract legion
the flutes start to become annoying. there are so many more ways to incorporate folk elements than this.
11.exiled
hildr valkyrie (who has been with folkearth since the beginning i believe) composed this song, and it shows. it uses synths, and she can actually sing; that alone makes it miles ahead of most of 'fatherland'.
i hate to be so pessimistic, but folkearth has serious problems that crippling them. problems such as crap singers and poor guitar recordings limit my tolerance of them. they need more involvement from good folk metal bands, rather than whoever is contributing now. folkearth used to get contributions from members of eluveitie, forefather, otyg, etc. without another lineup change which involves better musicians, folkearth doesn't have a future.
