Wednesday, July 21, 2010

GWYDION – Horn Triskelion CD review


GWYDION – Horn Triskelion CD
Trollzorn Records

Portugal is a beautiful country rich with its own unique history and tradition, but Vikings, I don’t think so. One would wonder why a group of musicians from Lisbon would pass on the opportunity to mix their own homegrown folk influences into the framework of Metal music and instead opt to copy someone else’s. In the case of GWYDION they chose to go to the Norse lands for inspiration. Along the way they must have read a copy of Viking Metal for Dummies because this is fairly generic sounding. Horn Triskelion incorporates all the template genre favorites like the Cecil B DeMille epic cinematic intro, the somber instrumental which is supposed to invoke sorrow and a newer addition to the fray, gothic operatic female backing vocals. Now as you all know when it comes to Viking Folk Metal bands one thing which is also a constant is the addition of non traditional Metal instruments into the songs. On here GWYDION use bagpipes and an accordion, the keyboards don’t count. Obviously their influences didn’t quite reach as far to the lands of the Norse as they had wished with those two choices. All of this is intertwined within a power metal landscape that has some blackened touches but not enough to push it into that direction. Trollzorn Records seems to be trolling for Viking motif bands with no relation to the parent subject. I hear there’s a few in India. Either way I think it’s time to throw down the gauntlet as it were and finally say “Death to False Vikings”! Although the cover art work is incredible and I wouldn’t mind it painted on a wall in my home.

www.trollzorn.de/

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