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Halgadom has been releasing pagan black metal and neofolk music for many years now. This is their second album with pure neofolk, the last one (Verdunkelung des Göttlichen) was released in 2002. In the years in between there has been a black metal album and one with a mixture of both styles.
Frank, the vocalist, has said in an interview that he tries to improve the music little by little for every album. And since this is the first album I hooked up since 2002, it doesnt take long to hear those improvements. EVERYTHING is better. First: compare the albums covers arts. Then listen to the tunes... There are more clever melodies, smarter song writing, improved guitar work and not to mention the vocals. Speaking of that, by the way, there is no female left, but instead Halgadom has invited Michael for the backing vocals.
The band has also decided to bring a drum kit in the picture that actually does more than you can imagine. The sound is much thicker due to this, and you are no longer waiting for things to happen (which was very common in Verdunkelung des Göttlichen), things are happening all the time and most of the songs reach their climax in the parts between the verses when the main guitar sets loose and is plucked with great precision. The drum playing combined with the soft guitars and the cello sometimes brings old Ostara to mind, in addition to the gang that are usually namedropped when reviewing a German neofolk album.
Two of the nine tracks on this album are re-arranged versions of tracks from Verdunkelung des Göttlichen. "Wotans Wilde Jagd" and "Gerechter Lohn". I actually think that these two particular songs are the least interesting ones on the 2002 album but with this facelift they sparkle. Especially "Gerechter Lohn" is now remarkable, with an, for this genre, almost insane tempo. The best one of the new songs is probably "Eisblume", a slower song, with many strong sides.
This is certainly the right way to travel. Halgadom can now be mentioned among the really great bands in the genre. I think, and hope, that Heimstatt is the album that defines their neofolk. All they have to work on now is the variation; even though this album only has nine songs, there are at least 3 that sound pretty similar. But hey, that gives us 6 ones of beautiful and original, almost folk-rocky neofolk.
CME
Frank, the vocalist, has said in an interview that he tries to improve the music little by little for every album. And since this is the first album I hooked up since 2002, it doesnt take long to hear those improvements. EVERYTHING is better. First: compare the albums covers arts. Then listen to the tunes... There are more clever melodies, smarter song writing, improved guitar work and not to mention the vocals. Speaking of that, by the way, there is no female left, but instead Halgadom has invited Michael for the backing vocals.
The band has also decided to bring a drum kit in the picture that actually does more than you can imagine. The sound is much thicker due to this, and you are no longer waiting for things to happen (which was very common in Verdunkelung des Göttlichen), things are happening all the time and most of the songs reach their climax in the parts between the verses when the main guitar sets loose and is plucked with great precision. The drum playing combined with the soft guitars and the cello sometimes brings old Ostara to mind, in addition to the gang that are usually namedropped when reviewing a German neofolk album.
Two of the nine tracks on this album are re-arranged versions of tracks from Verdunkelung des Göttlichen. "Wotans Wilde Jagd" and "Gerechter Lohn". I actually think that these two particular songs are the least interesting ones on the 2002 album but with this facelift they sparkle. Especially "Gerechter Lohn" is now remarkable, with an, for this genre, almost insane tempo. The best one of the new songs is probably "Eisblume", a slower song, with many strong sides.
This is certainly the right way to travel. Halgadom can now be mentioned among the really great bands in the genre. I think, and hope, that Heimstatt is the album that defines their neofolk. All they have to work on now is the variation; even though this album only has nine songs, there are at least 3 that sound pretty similar. But hey, that gives us 6 ones of beautiful and original, almost folk-rocky neofolk.
CME