“Trolls freak me the hell out” said a famous movie star once upon a time, actually it could have been zombies but there is no undervaluing the nastiness of these beasties either. Although normally in situ in Europe where bands pick up their cause and sing about them, getting the hummpa in Finland and having Trollfests in Germany, trolls are found in other places in the world too. Although reports are yet to appear in Asia and Africa where things are generally a bit on the warm side for them, how about the wild and rugged snow-bound forests of Canada? There are loads of hidden places where the wild ones things are to be found there, which brings me neatly onto Nordheim!
These canny Canucks may not have been around long having only released a demo and a self released album in the last few years but that album has now been picked up deservedly by Maple Metal Records to bring it to the masses and all I can say is it’s a riot and a hoot of a disc. The cover art is for a start brilliant and reminds me of some of the work from old 2000AD comics and then we get to the songs. Well I simply couldn’t wait to hear the likes of the brilliantly entitled ‘Beer, Metal, Trolls and Vomit’ could you?
First we get lost in the instrumental title track easing us in gently then we romp headlong into the frenzied tumult of ‘Nightborn’ Drums thud, guitars squeal and gang shouts all power out the speakers along with the rabid distempered vocal snarls of singer Waraxe who really sounds pissed off about something; perhaps his dinner just escaped or he ran out of hooch. There’s lots going down with folk etched melodies and clean vocal harmonies as well as a dextrous guitar weave going through the song and this is already laying down a challenge to the European peers that la forteresse des trolls should be taken seriously. The sound of flute and hurdy-gurdy (seemingly via keyboard) drive the pace of madcap numbers like ‘Far Away’ along and it’s difficult not to pump your fist along to the zealous numbers or throw up giddy to the aforementioned vomit anthem which is as mad as a bag of badgers and seriously needs checking out. If you survive the hangover from that we have an oath a ‘Promise To The Gods’ it’s a bit slower and probably a promise never to touch another bastard drop of booze again.
Nordheim keep things going for a nice accessible running time of just shy of the ¾ of an hour mark and do so without running out of steam or ideas. The gung-ho ‘Glorious March’ is the sort of assault that is going to have Turisas fans creaming themselves. As for the ‘Crazy Old Man’ there’s always one to gatecrash the party and be found lying in a piss stained heap come the morning.
This was a bit of a surprise I have to admit, especially at a time when many playing this style have got boring I gave this a spin expecting to wish it would ‘folk off’ and quickly found myself addicted. Nordheim would be perfect for the annual Paganfest although getting them on board could well be restrictive due to costs. Spread the word and who knows though.
http://www.myspace.com/nordheimband
Pete Woods
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