ALBUM REVIEW: Fimbulvinter – Brothers Of Metal
There isn’t a more apt time for an album called Fimbulvinter (the harsh winter that proceeds the end of days) to be released than there is before a potential election for Donald Trump next week, which will surely bring us a step closer to Ragnarok itself. BROTHERS OF METAL are back with their third album, Fimbulvinter as they unleash their brand of epic Viking/power metal to wage war on our eardrums.
As is tradition, Vikings would tell each other epic sagas over roaring fires and vast amounts of alcohol in giant halls. Fimbulvinter very much runs along with this vibe throughout. Whilst over long in parts, the album does stick the landing as it helps you imagine the likes of battling Valkyries, warring gods and epic battles. By the end of it you’ll feel like you’ve been in a God Of War game. Opening the album is track Sowilo which opens up to a cavalcade of horns setting the Norse tone for what is to come. This song very much feels like a prologue as the grandiose guitars and vocals take shape before launching us into the album. Ylva Eriksson’s vocals stand out amongst a troupe of vocalists on this record as she does the majority of the heavy lifting when it comes to the singing.
Flight Of The Ravens instantly follows and ramps everything up to a hundred, not once allowing the band to take their foot off the pedal in what feels like an ode to the likes of IRON MAIDEN and SABATON with both the instrumental and vocals. Giantslayer continues the epic nature of the album and almost has you wanting to march into war itself with its furious rhythms and its fun take on metal music.
Heart Of Stone is a monstrous track that could easily have been ripped out of a METALLICA album except with more impressive drumming and vocals, whilst its a fun track, it is perhaps the most generic metal sounding song on the record. However, it does have a fun earworm of a chorus amongst some great pounding drums. Rivers Of Gold starts off full of lutes and acoustic guitars which wouldn’t feel amiss from a tavern. It does start off interesting in this style but soon falls back into the giant riffs throughout, you can’t help but feel that if they’d done the whole of this song the way it started, it would have been a bit more interesting and given the album a little bit more depth to it.
Tracks such as Blood Red Sky and Ratatos are a pair that go hand in hand together, but at this point when half way through the album you can’t help but feel the songs are beginning to sound the same. Toward the back end of the album you hit the track Heavy Metal Viking, which is cheesy but is good fun. With a riff that has surely taken influence from RAMMSTEIN, it’s almost impossible to sit still whilst listening to it. What does make this song in particular interesting however is the vocals do have a country sort of feel to them which adds to the fun.
Beserkir is a track that is not only fit for Viking halls, but a huge room with a vast sweaty mosh pit. A slow start that builds up an excellent riff whilst chanting the song’s name, you can almost feel yourself battling to stay standing up in a rowdy pit, you’ll be wanting to earn the title of Beserkir in this setting. Penultimate song Nanna’s Fate is arguably one of the better songs on the record as it combines slow harp driven verses with huge epic chorus’ with yet another fantastic performance from Eriksson whose voice is complimented perfectly with the growling vocals of bandmate Joakim Lindbäck Eriksson. All sagas need an epic finale, and closing out Fimbulvinter is a track the album shares its name sake with. Throughout, this track builds and builds and throws everything it has at you, whether that be with vocals, instrumentals or the haunting backing chorus. It somehow is able to give every band member a moment to shine before the Fimbulvinter is over and Ragnarok begins.
This isn’t the most thought provoking album you’re ever going to hear, nor is it the best. But, if you’re able to see it for what it is, which is a lot of fun then you’re not going to have a problem. This album is the equivalent of a theme park, it’s big, it’s brash but you’ll not regret having listened to it. It does dip in quality throughout and you can feel like BROTHERS OF METAL could have trimmed the fat a little, but then again, sagas do go on for a long while, sit back and enjoy.
Rating: 6/10
Fimbulvinter is out now via AFM Records.
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