Artist: Corvus Corax
Title: Sverker
Genre: Neo-Medieval / Medieval Metal
Release Date: 25th November 2011
Label: Behßmokum Records
Album Review
CORVUS CORAX is not only your Latin for common raven, but also a German band upgrading the old embedded medieval nostalgias. It has been tickling your mythological longings since 1989, and as most bands had seen several re-shuffles over its existence. By 1996 us common folk are told that they’ve thrown in a good measure of Metal to go with the variety of authentic instruments and out came an album ‘Tanzwut’ and spawned another project of the same name. There have been many releases and so on to list them all and let’s concentrate on their new offering ‘Sverker’ anyway!
‘Sverker’ invites us to immense ourselves in myths and the wicked ways of Celts and Vikings. Athough classed as Medieval Metal, this is pretty much a straightforward Neo-Medieval evocation of those long gone times and the modern take on it. And if you wondered if you’ll hear any typical totem bird sounds, you’d not been mistaken: ‘Fiach Dubh’ gives you the sound of ravens permeating music in a good measure. It colours and shades the song which in itself is more slightly dark in a low key melancholy towards the seasonal gathering of greyness-to-darkness, the nearly perpetual wall of rain that is so own to British Isles. ‘The Drinking loving dancers’ is your pub dance night of yore, reminiscent of PAZUZU’s ‘In The Tavern’, gets you tapping your feet for sure and crave some good ol’ ale intoxication. The vocals throughout the album are great and give the music good atmosphere and depth.
Some songs though are bit too sleepy and lag in energy such as ‘Lá í mBealtaine’, though you might enjoy the flute and bagpipes anyway. One of the great narrative songs is Ragnarök (“Fate of the Gods / Twilight Of the Gods”), which is the Norse equivalent of Armageddon, obviously very potent and fascinating subject for many composers, musicians, poets and writers alike. It’s sombre, and thanks God it’s subtle. It provokes various acts of overdoing in the fantasy region in far too many and such is not the case here. Result: a bloody good song! The last song, ‘Na Láma-sa’, has an air of incantation, of watching ships depart from the harbour, slow lingering goodbyes. Maybe it could even be a funereal song of sorts especially when it comes to the heaviness hung on the incantation of the vocal.
I can’t say I dislike the Celtic flavoured stuff completely, but the problem is that it so often gets done to death. Though CORVUS CORAX manages to infuse it with their unique vision, it doesn’t seem to resurrect that corpse into my enthusiasm enough, so I just say a quality listen, but I doubt many re-visits will ensue on my account. If you love this kind of music and haven’t got tired by the Celtic revival, by all means welcome this album to your vast collection!
Tracklist
01. Intro Gjallarhorni – 0.58
02. Gjallarhorni – 2.59
03. Sverker – 4.31
04. Fiach Dubh – 6.38
05. Trinkt vom Met – 0.35
06. The drinking loving dancers – 5.19
07. Lá í mBealtaine – 4.47
08. Hafrue – 4.36
09. Baldr – 3.27
10. Ragnarök – 7.40
11. Tjugundi bidil – 0.27
12. Na Láma-sa – 9.18
Line-up
Wim Dobbrisch - bagpipes, shawm, bucina, voc
Castus Karsten Liehm - bagpipes, shawn, bucina, sistrum, voc
Hatz - big frame drum, cymbals, cassa, voc
Norri Drescher - big frame drum, bass drum, string drum, tam tam, voc
PanPeter - bagpipes
Vit - bagpipes
Steve the machine - percussion
Websites
http://www.corvuscorax.de
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 7
Sound: 7
Total: 7 / 10
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