Artist: Arafel
Title: For Battles Once Fought
Type: Album
Label: Noise Art Records

Here's a band from Israel...the land of Salem and Melechesh. As I read the press-sheet, it turns out that band members originate mainly from the now-disbanded Soviet Union (not specified). Arafel is apparently their attempt to mix Slavonic folk music with Black Metal. Listening to "For Battles Once Fought", however, conjures images of Scandinavian stamping grounds, instead. To be brutally frank, this really doesn't sound one bit like Kasaka and Katjusha or, in fact, Space Tractor by the Leningrad Cowboys (now there's s Slavonic melody!). There's also a bunch of moments that could originate directly from the Lord of the Rings soundtrack (but this kind of goes without saying, no?). I guess you could dance the perestroika to it if you really wanted to, but would probably much better off dressing as a Viking and waving round that drinking horn ‘til not a drop of mead was left in it.

For decades bands have added folky elements to extreme music. Even Master’s Hammer used some excellent dark Czech folk-melodies on their earlier releases. So what makes Arafel stand out? They’re all outstanding musicians, the album has a very fitting modern production, but do they have the ideas to elevate them above others, who have done the seemingly exactly same thing a hundred times over. To be brutally frank, I don’t think so. It sounds essentially Finnish, like early Ensiferum, like Finntoll, Turisas… it’s folky Black metal, slightly symphonic (a la Dimmu Borgir), slightly aggressive Battle Metal. There’s a violin in there, some chanting and a Viking atmosphere: exactly what you’d expect. However, what sets Arafel aside from all the hundreds of clone bands in the genre, are their death/black metal sections that bring to mind Morbid Angel and Possessed at times (of course these are quickly topped off with keyboard bits). It is with these moments that they reveal their true musicianship and originality, as there really is nowhere else to go in this genre of metal (this is why I wrote it off years ago.). Vocals are contributed by, now full-time member, Helge Stang (ex-Equilibrium, Viking Metal, with sing-along choruses about mead). He’s a strong vocalist, but hardly standout, growling and screaming his way through the release with no surprises.

Nothing's being reinvented here, but for fans of this (completely overdone) genre this will be a welcome addition to their record collection. The album is filled with instantly accessible music full of melodic hooks and enough folkyness to drive every fan of the genre to orgasm. Put simply, it is Scandinavian sounding fast battle metal from Israel, played by extremely skilled Slavs... who, nevertheless, fail to bring anything new to the table. If you're looking for something epic, folky and at times aggressive, here you go mate, you will most likely love it.

http://www.arafel-band.com/
http://www.myspace.com/arafelmetal