I’d consider myself educated enough to understand the significance of Deutschland in the metal world. Not only do they play host to a number of the biggest and best festivals marked off on the calendars of metal fans on a globular scale, but the list of bands to emerge from the country is endless; Sodom, Running Wild, Accept, Doro, Destruction, Primal Fear, Holy Moses, Kreator just to name a few. Somehow, Adorned Brood have managed to pass me by all these years, slipping out six full length albums without leaving so much as a trace on the edge of my radar. Noor is the second one out on Black Bard Entertainment, previously having spent a good many years with German label Folter Records, and this album certainly has me wondering if their back catalogue is of equal quality.
I’ve been hit with a spate of these so-called battle metal albums since the start of 2009, and frankly most have left me cold and querying whether there is really any puff left in the lungs of this exhausted genre. Currently competing against new albums by Tyr and Alestorm for a place in my stereo, it has to be said that this has been the easiest of the lot to get my head around. Despite their fifteen years of musical output, this lot aren’t displaying the signs of a battle-worn horde, fatigued and fit for retirement. Rather, they have the vibrant spark of a group of fresh faced warriors eager to run sword-first on to the battlefield. A band with a hodgepodge of ideas to draw upon, creating a varied and highly listenable album.
After the obligatory introduction sandwiching an epic portent of battle between some calming keys, ‘Storm’ batters against the speakers with a hard and heavy onslaught of thrashing guitars with a trace of power in the mix. There is a raging blackness that works its way in on certain tracks, although this overall crushing display of power is evenly balanced with more melodic sounds. Title track ‘Noor’ is a fine example of this as it lures us in with a beguiling flute melody that later fizzles out leaving us to rage through in a manner that bears a striking resemblance to Turisas’ ‘Holmgard And Beyond.’ The flutes are a welcome feature on this album, occasionally playful but often captivating and alluring, on ‘Am Grunde Des Meeres’ leading one into the thick of the forest where it is easy to get caught up in the fun and frolics with the hobbits linking arms and dancing round the campfire.
The female vocals on ‘Sons Of The Damned’ add an air of beauty forlorn into this laid back track; a touch of Gothicism that also lays low on ‘Adorned Brood’ with its dark, solemn clean vocal melody that adds an air of mystery to the lively, playful melodies and general chiaroscuro. Ending on a high note with a cover of ‘Drunken Sailor’ only helps this band to stick in the memory as it’s sure to get a few knees up in the live setting (on a more random note, I’m informed this has joined the list of rhymes no longer acceptable to the PC brigade, so perhaps it will have to be renamed ‘Sober Sailor;’ just doesn’t have the same ring though, does it!).
If you consider the likes of Turisas, Finntroll et al among your favourite bands then you really ought to consider heading over to Amazon or wherever you like to shop and nabbing yourself a copy of this rather enjoyable album. In the meantime, I’m off to explore said website to see what fragments of their repertoire I can pick up on the cheap.
http://www.adornedbrood.de
http://www.myspace.com/adornedbroodde
