The cover is a dead giveaway really; a painting of an ancient and rather annoyed looking man with a long, white beard facing a rather ugly trollish character who looks equally vexed. I can only begin to imagine that conversation, which would most likely go something like: Man: “UGHHH” Troll (waving semi deteriorated club in the air): “UUUGGHHHHAAAAGH”. Yes, it’s time to grab the old plastic Viking helmet and shield hidden at the back of your closet and fling around that wooden stick you found in the back yard as you pretend you are fighting off big, ugly trolls and their mischievous ilk as they invade your living room for the next hour.
This gets off to a tranquil beginning with the pleasant flute laden intro passage, before it really starts with “Ristiretki”. Wailing clean vocals are interspersed with a rawer vocal style in which native tongue is emitted, putting an authentic stamp on their sound, while musically this is heavy and upbeat, and as it speeds up towards the end with the rapid drum blasts this gives the song a hurried feel.
“Jatillaisen Iaulu” has a certain Falkenbach-esque vibe. The track is infused with a gentle failing of the keys, slowing down into a heavy, eerie sounding guitar riff that sweeps back up with a sonorous cry. The track is brought to an end as we swing open the doors of a tavern filled with inebriated trolls, clinking their mead filled tankards and laughing jovially.
“Ylpeyden Kiro” has a progressive touch that wouldn’t sound odd next to something from the recent Therion opus Gothic Kaballah as a flute vacillates gracefully atop a stomping guitar riff. The album is brought to a conclusion with title track “Ragnarok”, which sways from a bleak and minimalist reflective passage, before really coming to life at the chorus point.
If you are not particularly crazy about the whole folk metal thing you may want to give this a miss. While this is a competent debut album that fans of bands such as Falkenbach should derive some level of enjoyment from, there are greater examples of this type of music floating around and Ragnarok comes recommended to real fans of the genre only.
http://www.heorotband.com/
