Well this is all very jolly isn’t it? Bringing the fun back to Folk Metal (just look at that cover art – was it ever going to be anything else?), Danish Metal band Trold might be relatively new to the scene, but they’ve hit the ground hurtling as fast as their little Troll legs can carry them and unleashed a swathe of up-tempo powerful Metal tracks that will bring a smile to many a heavily bearded face. Just to be clear, this isn’t a collection of serious Nordic Epic Folk Metal, this veers much more towards the tankard-in-hand-drink-til-you-fall-over-get-back-up-and-drink-some-more Folk Metal (if indeed that could be classed as a genre…)

So, obviously comparisons will be made to Finntroll and Trollfest (they are called Trold after all), but there’s much more about Trold than that, very much exploring their own take on Folk Metal, but also taking an approach that musically might down an ale or six with Grimner, Furor Gallico, Skiltron, Svartsot or Sylvatica. The latter band being very much noteworthy as Trold’s line-up includes Sylvatica guitarist Christian Christiansen and is packed full of the type of powerful melodic guitar lines that are so enjoyable on their recent album “Ashes and Snow”.

But that’s just part of the story as the band’s other guitarist Jesper Myrup lends equal power, dexterity and aggression to the songs, with powerful drums and bass always there to drive each track forward. There’s plenty of varied keyboards throughout the album, adding further melody as well as extra depth to the mix, whilst the harsh-as-you-like vocals (courtesy of Dawn Of Demise guitarist Astor Palsson) rasp and snarl their way around the melodies to keep the heaviness to the extreme. The whole thing comes together in a resounding explosion of extreme Metal juxtaposed with utterly memorable folk melodies that has often been attempted by others but rarely delivered as emphatically as Trold manage here.

The songs are varied, there’s blast beat infused speed-fests and there’s epic anthems. Sometimes there’s both at the same time! There’s Melodic Death Metal, there’s hints of Power Metal and even touches of epic Nordic Black Metal, but there is always Trold. Aside from some fantastic musical arrangements and intricate, intelligent shifts in mood, there’s so many shout-along melodies that are done with a mischievous grin and a nod to an amazing atmosphere in a live situation. Clinging to the recent Grimner album, I was beginning to think that the up-beat happy side to Folk Metal was looking a bit on the sparse side at present, but along came Trold and it’s all just got a bit brighter and a bit more fun all of a sudden.

(8.5/10 Andy Barker)

https://www.facebook.com/troldband

https://troldband.bandcamp.com/album/der-var-engang-pre-order