Finntroll

Finntroll - Jaktens Tid
Century Media, 2001
Genre: Pagan Black Metal

1. Krig
2. Födosagan
3. Slaget vid Blodsälv
4. Skogens Hämnd
5. Jaktens Tid
6. Bakom Varje Fura
7. Kitteldags
8. Krigsmjöd
9. VargTimmen (Hedningarna Cover)
10. Kyrkovisan
11. Den Hornkrönte Konungen (Rivfaders Tron)
12. Aldhissla
13. Tomhet och Tystnad Härska

Apparently “Midnattens Widunder” had such great success that Century Media quickly snatched this band up.  Who would have thought this kind of blend would take the world by storm, but that has become quite true with “Jaktens Tid”.  Finntroll continue their path down blending extreme Metal with Humppa Folk music.  Some of the blending is more pronounced than others on this album though.

“Jaktens Tid” sounds like a much more mature effort when you compare the two recordings because it seems like they were trying to move the band into a more complex and full direction.  They’ve added in a lot more pronounced Folk elements and combined that into their Troll legend concept.  However, the rhythm parts are a little lighter at times like on “Vargtimmen”, which is interesting because that’s clearly about wolves.  Considering some Black Metal bands preoccupation with wolves, I figured this would be a lot darker.  Some songs have a much more Polka feel like on “Slaget Vid Blodsälv” which is an incredibly upbeat song.  In terms of overall guitar composition and performance the majority of the songs seem to have lost the Black Metal feel and shifted to a much lighter feel, almost of Power Metal derivation at times.  They’ve also added in a lot more acoustic passages as well.  Overall the music is still incredibly dark though, I just noticed the difference even though Impaled Nazarene’s guitarist is the lead guitarist.

Klatwa still greets us with a superb harsh vocal performance.  His vocals just sound perfect for this kind of music.  They’ve added in some chanting sequences here and there as well thanks to some guest vocalists.  The keyboard work remains on par with the prior album, only I think they built up the medieval style a lot more on this release and incorporated that with the Humppa a bit more.  “Bakom Varje Fura” is a prime example of this and sounds overly happy at points, but in a very medieval kind of way.

Overall I think Finntroll is heading into a more mature direction, but I rather liked their harsher focus on the earlier release.  The guitar work seemed much darker and I enjoyed the contrast.  The contrast still appears in a lot of songs, but in some tracks on “Jaktens Tid” it’s not nearly as apparent and the guitar focus seems to follow the upbeat keyboard/traditional instruments in some sections a lot more, and while those songs were good, they were just okay in comparison to the others like “Födosagan”.  However, on their debut I said I wanted more and they definitely delivered, so if you enjoyed “Midnattens Widunder” I don’t see why you would be disappointed with this release, in fact this one is really a bit better in the grand scheme.