http://www.examiner.com/heavy-metal-in-national/cd-review-kalevala-sets-folk-metal-ablaze-with-third-album-witch-review
CD review: KALEVALA sets folk metal ablaze with third album Witch [Ведьма]
- December 10th, 2010 5:40 pm ET
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Kalevala’s third outing purifies the band’s position as one of the most sincere and exciting folk metal bands to emerge from the Russian realm. Each song is an exhilarating romp – either a journeyman hymn or a party anthem; all driven by Kseniya’s soul-silken wail.
Listening to a Kalevala album is like embarking on a perilous adventure, marked by equal doses of triumph and tragedy - even more so than popular genre favorites like Korpiklaani, FinnTroll, and Ensiferum. Every track is a frenetic folk fable, sometimes accentuated by eloquent fantasy and at others by blistering, metallic fury.
There are moments on Ведьма, that make you want to offroad through The Shire in a ’69 Camaro, stirring up a refined blend of dust, exhaust and pipe weed. The metal elements bleed from the band’s primary influences, which by the tone and structure of the songs, range from Deep Purple and Ozzy Osbourne to Metallica and Accept.
And it does not matter that none of the lyrics are in English. Kseniya proves once again that you can be just as effective a bard through pure emotional output. Her exotic dialect evokes the romantic passion of tragedian in a theatre performance.
Some of the tracks also exude a blues-based sensibility that, after listening, make you want to get drunk and plow a field. But I guess that is all part of the whole Kalevala experience – folk simplicity with a vibrant metallic crunch. As stated in the past, Kalevala truly deserves more attention and accolades than the industry grants them.
Check out Kalevala’s WITCH [Ведьма] at the Napalm Records webstore.
And be sure to check out our interview with Kalevala here!