Well it’s a good job that ‘Fier’ translates from Dutch to English as ‘proud’ as opposed to the more obvious guess of ‘fear,’ otherwise I would find it irresistible to poke out the irony of it all. Vocabulary lesson number two; a Hellebaard is a medieval weapon that looks like a double axe and a spear, and having seen pictures, I can only guess the kind of strength and skill it would take to wield such a weapon. Therefore as I’m sure you’ve worked out, inspiration comes from a combination of mighty medieval battles and heathenist nature and to return to my original point, if these warriors came at me with a Hellebaard far from being fearful I would likely drop to the ground and roll around in irrepressible fits of laughter.
I was in two minds about how to approach this review; should I adopt a kind and nurturing approach and judge as I would a demo, or should I be brutally honest? This is far from the worst thing I’ve heard but considering this Dutch duo also have three albums behind them it would be a trifle unfair for me to plump for the former option considering the number of bands of similar longevity who have received a fair old slating on these here pages.
On paper, Fier sounds like an album I should practically be salivating over especially being influenced by Graveland and Summoning, but that doesn’t necessarily mean much. In fact, to get things started on a note of optimism the guitars on the album are rather good; there’s a blackened harshness to ‘Vleugels Van Vuur’ that aids a Summoning-like ambience and these are also especially poignant on ‘Bloedbroeders’ which equally has a melody that makes a good attempt to draw you in. This one really bashes away with some vehement drumming with a strong underlying element of nature. I like the dark, brooding drum banging on ‘Hellebaard’ as well, while this one has a strong swagger to it that has me holding my sword high.
But then there’s the issue of the amateurish keyboards and just as I find myself getting into a track these come along and put a hell of a damper on things. I’m totally not adverse to keyboards in metal; when done well they can add a tremendous amount of atmosphere but here they practically drown out the rest of the music creating an awful clumsy layer over otherwise competent arrangements. The aforementioned ‘Vluugels’ is the most frustrating example of this as while the verse does a great job of building up a kind of ambience, the chorus blows it with its Casio sounds that are cringe-worthily frilly and, for want of a better word, wet. If Pagan metal is about being one with nature then it just can’t work when it sounds so synthetic and man made.
I’ve avoided any mention of the vocals, which just don’t seem to work well with the music and are also rather comical; perhaps stand-up comedy could be an alternative career path to consider, did they have those in medieval times? The funeral march to ‘De Eeuwige Strijdvelden’ is certainly intriguing and overall this isn’t a dreadful album. That said, it’s not one I’ll be listening to again in a hurry.
http://www.myspace.com/hellebaard
