Drakwald

Drakwald is a very cool folk metal band from France who I will be seeing live this Sunday. They have a brutal death heaviness that they combine with a highly polished folk metal sound to get a great end result. The interesting thing about the guitars on this record is the use of the 7 string. This adds a lot of heaviness and meat to the sound. Not a lot of modern folk metal bands are using that kind of guitar so this makes them rather unique. The folk melodies are rather well put together, but the guitarists are not afraid to go out and shred. In this way they remind me a bit of Ensiferum. The bass work is extremely fast and has a black metal feel to it during the heaviest riffs. There is a more melodic side too, in particular, before the solo in Wrath of the Ancient Gods the bass has a pretty marvelous fill. The drums are pounding and fast. With an almost thrash metal anger to them they are nevertheless perfectly executed. The pounding of the bass drum characterizes this band it shows them at their finest. The keyboards on this record are really well done, with a certain atmospheric quality to them they are very refreshing. The flutes are also rather excellent, they add a true swords and sorcery magic to the atmosphere. This is a band whose drummer can truly deliver. The growls are low and brutal, they have a very dark quality to them that makes this band feel a lot more death metal than most other pagan metal acts. The singers epic growls gives the band a much heavier bottom end and a bigger assault. In conclusion, Drakwald is a brilliant pagan metal act and I can not wait to get to see them on Sunday!

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