I was very happy to receive an invite to hear and review this album as it is quite the missing link in the artist’s repertoire and is considered a classic of Ukrainian Folk Pagan Metal. Of course Munruthel has been involved in stacks of bands and has apparently notched up appearances on something close to 30 albums with the likes of Nokturnal Mortum, Astrofaes, Thunderkraft etc. His first solo album still escapes me (hopefully that may see a reissue at some point) but this one was originally released in very limited quantity in 2006 on Oskorei music and came between his fantastical ‘Oriana Tales’ and the recent ‘Dark Saga.’ Naturally I was very interested to hear how exactly it fits in within the grand scheme of things.
The Prologue ‘On The Verge Of The Worlds’ pitches you headlong in the midst of a battle and sounds excellent with the clash of steel and the sounds of horses. Things calm into a whispering female vocal and then the first track proper ‘The Raven Croak’ sees the orchestration, heavily keyboard laden, come in. It’s pompous and dramatic and with the vocals roaring into clean croons there is plenty going on to fixate upon. Musically this has quiet a triumphant feel to it, an epic furrow that makes you even more surprised that everything going on is the work of just one man and not a whole band. As things progress there are plenty of grandiose guitar solos and zealous keyboard peels, the thwack of the drums drives it all along and the vocals are ever changing going from gruff to rafter hitting crescendos and things never stand still for a second leaving you somewhat breathless from the fervour. The title track sang harmonically in its own language casts intrigue and it has a sort of lazy sunny and even Mediterranean feel to it drawing you in and making you wonder what it is about, Aquarius has perhaps dawned. The addition of flutes (a constant flavour of Ukrainian pagan metal music) and a more galloping pace whip it off and have you pounding your head along with it all.
Managing to be both flamboyant without showing off is a fine balance but the guitar flailing of ‘I was Confided By Dawns’ leaves me impressed rather than anything else and the flow into a folk laden flute tooting section is handled neatly, changing pace and dimension. The composition is so involving it takes some time to realise that this song actually is an instrumental; the complexity hardly allows you to acknowledge this. I really love the flute led melody of ‘Echo Of The Forgotten Battles’ it’s poignant and sort of respectful without being too moribund. The acoustic guitar work adds to this and overall it’s a beautiful song and you can hear that it is a well thought out tribute to the fallen. The Epilogue ‘On The Verge Of The Worlds’ is no short piece, indeed it’s a venomous track tinged again by the plaintive weep of the flute and finishes off an album that certainly lives up to the grandiose claims of being an important part of the glory and pride of Ukrainian Pagan Metal scene!
On this new edition though are a couple of extra cover songs ‘Black Suns’ from Dead Can Dance and Tomhet by Burzum. Whilst Dead Can Dance is full blooded and epic with some really superb vocal parts the 12 minute Burzum instrumental is bleak, stygian and gloomy. Obviously if you knew the songs you would guess that but they are both great additions and done completely in the spirit of the originals.
As far as Munruthel is concerned there is no denying the fact this is a very good album and well worth checking out if you have not heard his stuff before (and indeed if you have and missed it). However for me the sheer mysticism and remarkable imagination behind its predecessor ‘Oriana Tales’ is impossible to topple.
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
Leave a Reply