So this is a style of article I've been thinking about for quite some time. It's sort of like a Discography Retrospective, but with bands where I don't know much (if anything) about them. While I've featured a few videos of theirs before, I haven't really taken the dive into The Brothers of Metal or their material. As this coincides with the release of their third album, I figured it was time to, well, get caught up! Let's begin!
Right off the bat, their sound is pretty iconic. While they certainly have some heavy/power metal elements, similar to their country mates HammerFall and Sabaton, I think the biggest influence is Manowar, with the mid-tempo songs and over-the-top lyrics. Not only do they go for epicness all the time, they are also not afraid to sing about themselves and how awesome they are. Definitely cheesy and fun, while staying focused on Nordic mythology, the album is a treat.
Much of their epicness stems from some solid synth symphonics and a pretty regular 6/8 time signature. If one didn't know better, this could have been the soundtrack to a very strange metal musical. In any case, the whole band is on board with their over-the-top vision, and make some fun music along the way. While all the performances are fine, their most iconic element is their blending of vocals. Ylva Eriksson is a great female singer in her own right, but when joined by the gravelly bellows of Joakim Eriksson and Mats Nilsson, the trio give the songs an interesting and unique texture that matches well with the triumphant tones of the music.
In all honesty, this kind of niche stuff tends to be divisive. Either you get it or you don't. Fortunately, this clicks with me, largely because I can tell that they aren't taking themselves too seriously either. I liked the title track and the epic power ballad "Yggdrasil," and the ending "We Believe in Metal" is a solid. If you can get on the same wavelength as them and their niche approach to metal, you'll have a good time like I did.
Three years later and very little has changed. The symphonic elements are stronger and more lush, but that only adds to their epicness. I do think this is a better album than the first, mainly because the songwriting is a little tighter, but this really is just more cheesy, Norse-laden metal, and that's just fine by me.
At first, I thought this was going to be a concept album, starting with narration and discussing the evil seed of Loki, but as it goes on, the songs just wanders to other topics within the mythology. It's not bad, just maybe a little misleading. The music continues to shift between heavy and power metal styles with a poppy symphonic flair, with many anthemic choruses that are fun to sing along with. If there is a concern, it's that some of the lyrics wander into the farcical, or maybe they're just a bit childish. While most of them do well to tell the grand stories, references to the Loch Ness Monster, Marvel's Avengers, and MC Hammer definitely feel out of place.
Still, this is all pretty fun stuff. "Powersnake," "Chain Breaker," and "Ride of the Valkyries," were stand outs for me on this one, mostly for their upbeat metal epicness. The title track is also good, going through many different moods to discuss the creation of the world, starting with some mysterious Icelandic vocals before going full into soaring symphonic melodrama. Overall, the album flows pretty well, showing that the band are maturing as songwriters and performers, which is why I think this is better than the first. A solid follow-up that expands things to greater heights.
And now we have the new album that released earlier this month. The band carries on as one would expect, but with an even stronger emphasis on symphonic orchestrations and a few variations on their established style.
The album starts off with business as usual, featuring their over-the-top metal style in the first handful of tracks, with "Sowilo" being a solid mid-tempo opener, and "Giantslayer" shows the fun epicness they have always been capable of. However, after that, the album starts to shift around. "Blood Red Sky" blends heavy with folk music, making me think of The Hu, "Ratatosk" has this bouncy, musical-like quality to it, "Chasing Lights" gets very upbeat like Freedom Call, "Heavy Metal Viking" has them playing a bluesy hard rock song, "The Other Side of Odin" picks up some AOR vibes, especially in the chorus, "Berserkir" is where they really get heavy, and the closer "Fimbulvinter" has them channeling Rhapsody of Fire with a lot of cinematic flair. Of course, none of this is jarring or feels too far outside their wheelhouse (except "Heavy Metal Viking"). The band really seem to be exploring the style to see what different kinds of songs they can do, with some pretty decent results.
The ones I liked were "Sowilo," "Giantslayer," "Blood Red Sky," "Chasing Lights," and "The Other Side of Odin," largely because they had the kind of majestic and storytelling that I like from symphonic metal. The rest of the album is still plenty of fun ("Heavy Metal Viking" in particular has the band loosening up quite a bit), and while I don't know if it's better than their second (as it's pretty close to it), the album remains a solid offering to the gods and a good time for those who don't take their metal too seriously.
So this was a pretty fun article. Like the retrospectives, I don't know how often I'll do something like this, but I know there are plenty of bands that could use a comprehensive listen, so I imagine this will come back at some point. As for the blog, I'm working on one more article for November, wrapping up the Anniversary Articles, and then I plan on listening to more releases in December. Until then, rock on! \m/
