October falls - Kaarna

Genre : Instrumental neofolk
Release : June 20th 2014 on Debemur Morti Productions.

You probably read about October falls on my blog already, and if you did, you might have come across straight neofolk releases such as Sarastus, between a couple folk black metal ones such as A collapse of faith or The womb of primordial nature. I got the honor to review October falls' new release before June 20th, with a pretty physical digipack coming along. Speaking about it, the artwork is much prettier than seen here, since there's an embossed neofolk-only (square one) band logo on its cover, which can't be seen on the scan. For those who got the digipack from A collapse of faith already, it's the same idea here. That whole black & white box is pretty beautiful by the way, even though there's not a single lyric in its booklet of course : just cover arts of the old releases. Yeah, some may be sad to learn this, but there aren't any new tracks in there : Kaarna gathers every acoustic track Mikko Lehto has ever recorded, and that's it. Nothing worthless though : those works are coherent and fit together amazingly well, and giving them a whole new life into a single physical release make them shine much more than they ever did.

Compilation? Yeah, every neofolk track October falls ever did is inside the box, which makes it quite a long journey over two CDs. If you're wondering about the tracklist, you've got it just up there (except that 'Marrasmaa' is in the middle of 'Marras' track). You can also stream it as a whole right here, of course. But as you may be more familiar with the black metal releases Mikko Lehto did, here's what you can expect here : straight minimalistic neofolk mostly consisting in acoustic guitars, some pianos, a couple quiet flutes in the background, almost no drums (a couple on 'Marras' and that's it) nor vocals (quick vocalized interludes between ex-Marras tracks), but lots of ambient noises. Ambient noises which are definitely the usual neofolk ones : wind and water flowing, birds singing... and so on. If that's pretty much it technically, Kaarna is all about atmosphere, and clocking for more than 90 minutes, it's long enough to place it easily and perfectly. Of course, you may think it's too long, but that's not something you carefully listen to in my opinion, it's more about placing yourself in a precise mood for an evening. It should flow like water does all along 'Sarastus' and that's probably how it's meant to exist. Also, this release is quite different from other long straight neofolk releases (Fearthainne comes to mind), probably because it's strictly European neofolk, more melodic and less ritualistic than those inspired from the cascadian movement. October falls' has a different atmosphere, still melancholic, but somehow warmer. Well, for those who know its folk black metal side, Kaarna surely reminds of the acoustic parts heard in A collapse of faith or The womb of primordial nature. Except that no raging blastbeats or huge riff will come. Don't be sad : the journey is still worth it, but just meant for a different mood.

With its three very short tracks and its three long ones (made from albums mixed into single tracks), Kaarna has quite an unusual structure. But in the end, it would make the same sense if it was a single huge track. While giving it such a physical release, Mikko surely gave it much more sense than separate digital tracks grabbed here and there on Bandcamp and played separately. As such, Kaarna is something you should own if you're into raw neofolk, or just if you want your October falls' discography to be complete. That would be more than a good idea, because this one definitely makes sense between the folk black metal albums the band is most known for.

Personal highlights : Viima, Sarastus.
Links : Facebook, Bandcamp (neofolk only).

Nebelung - Palingenesis

Genre : Mostly instrumental neofolk
Release : February 18th 2014 on Temple of Torturous.

As the time flies, I find it harder and harder to find good neofolk releases. Actually, I often enjoy neofolk tracks from folk black metal albums more than raw neofolk ones. However, when I realized Nebelung were about to release a new album six years after their last release, Vigil, I was immediately hooked, as they quite recently participated to Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer and Whom the moon a nightsong sings (2010) with two excellent tracks : 'Graue Nacht' and 'Ich würd es hören'.

On both the aforementioned tracks and previous releases, Nebelung used to incorporate german lyrics through deep male vocals, with more or less success from track to track ('Graue Nacht' being amazing in every possible way, though). However, a big change from their previous works is the instrumental direction of Palingenesis. Well, mostly instrumental to be precise, as there still are some whispered words on 'Mittwinter' and 'Polaris', but they're definitely not what you hear first. What you actually hear first is straight clean guitars and cello neofolk. Yeah, simple as that, even though it wouldn't be that great with so few things. Quietly moving behind the main instruments, there are some harmoniums, harps, chimes, bells, drums, whispered words and more. To put in a nut shell, Nebelung creates big arrangements while keeping the essence of neofolk's minimalism. A great work if you ask me, and this 50 minutes long new album doesn't sound boring a single second, which is often an issue within the genre. It actually flows slowly, quietly, with clever composition and warm, beautiful melodies. That new release also shines with autumnal melancholy, it even surpasses most of the neofolk releases for that case. And more than sounds, Palingenesis really is a painting : a picture of a autumnal wood, with its yellow to red leaves and its evening sunrays. Or a picture of a winter forest covered with fog. Or whatever else you think which fits its soothing, enchanting atmospheres. Nebelung really evokes what the genre is all about.

Giving Palingenesis a clap isn't enough to praise its greatness. Nebelung successfully crafted a perfect neofolk album with all the essence and mood it needs. An album not to listen in a rush, but to relax with. Melancholic cellos, peaceful guitars, quiet melodies and serene pictures are everything you need for a stunning neofolk release but this minimalistic recipe isn't an easy thing to arrange either, and that's why Nebelung can be acclaimed for completely mastering it with this third album. Kudos, masters!

Personal highlights : Mittwinter, Wandlung.
Links : Facebook, Bandcamp.

Ishtar - Ombre [EP]

Genre : Instrumental neofolk / Ambient

Here's something refreshing. Ishtar give us a mix of warm clean guitars playing instrumental neofolk, and cold pianos playing some kind of dark ambient. In the end, this short release delivers a deep and rich sound with both those layers. It's completely instrumental and there are no drums either, however it's melodic enough to stay catchy anytime. Some parts are a bit darker, some are a bit warmer. But it's nonetheless a pretty melancholic piece of art, reinforced by some atmospheric sounds like rain and wind. Yes, piece of art, because it's some very good work, melodies stick in one's head, quickly leading to a new listen. Because it's a bit short, yes. We'll be eagerly waiting for more from Ishtar!

Check out a couple songs, dark ambient oriented Le vele dormienti, mi volgo alle nebbie or more neofolk-ish Ho preso il cammino del fuoco e bruciavo nel cuore. And follow Ishtar on Facebook.

Havnatt - Havdøgn [EP]

Genre : Neofolk

Some fresh air here. Really fresh. Probably thanks to norwegian lyrics sung with a crystal-clear female voice. Or maybe because of those clean, soft guitars? Anyway, through that five songs-long EP, Havnatt makes this new approach to neofolk a success. New approach, mainly because it's vocals-driven before being guitar-driven. Some may not like it, but the guitar lines are mostly here to carry those vocals, instead of standing in the foreground. Havdøgn depicts nature like neofolk usually does, but an other way. Maybe this release won't describe cold, snowy forests with rotting trees all around, but more a bright green forest, with faeries flying all around in the sunrays. Well, enough silly comparisons, just give Havdøgn a listen if you enjoy relaxing, slow neofolk strictly limited to guitars and clean, relaxing, ethereal female vocals. No drums here, no big arrangements. But that makes it more natural, didn't it?

Check out of couple of its songs, mind you? For example Prammen and Han som skyggar meg. And follow Havnatt on Facebook.

Stroszek - A break in the day [EP]

Genre : Neofolk

It's been a while since I haven't been posting neofolk. Well, problem is I have hard times finding really pretty neofolk recently. However, Stroszek is worth a mention! First, it's not instrumental, but rather features some really interesting and beautiful female vocals. Usually, I'm not really into those, but here they fit quite well, maybe because the acoustic guitars carry them perfectly. Well, and that's all you have here. A couple acoustic guitar lines, and those vocals. Stroszek makes it very traditional, and this is typically what you can expect from some neofolk : beautiful melodies with a hint of melancholy. Check it out, if female vocals don't disturb you!

Here are a couple songs for you to check, mostly instrumental Secrets of the earth and Green jade. And follow Stroszek on Facebook. A break in the day is available as a free download on bandcamp.

Message to bears - EP 1 [EP]

Genre : Instrumental neofolk / Ambient

Ok, let's move to some other dimension for tonight. I'm not even sure about how to tag the genre, but all I can say to describe it quickly, is "mostly acoustic guitars, no lyrics, and a huge amount of melancholy". Therefore, there isn't much to review -musically speaking- here. Well, if the release name definitely lacks imagination, music doesn't, at all. Expect very beautiful guitar melodies here, like... I mean, beautiful is the best word here. It's filled with emotions, be it melancholy, joy, happiness, childhood memories. Nostalgy strikes in those guitar lines, and the other arrangements, hand percussions, spoken samples, some piano or violin, fill the atmosphere perfectly. A very nice addition to the deep guitar layers in the end, all this in an album you should definitely check out for a moment of meditation and contemplation. I'd call this "sounds of our homeworld", because of the strong human feeling laying in these songs.

Check out a couple songs, Plane over evening sky and Swim for example. And follow Message to bears on Facebook.

Nechochwen - Algonkian mythos

Genre : Mostly instrumental neofolk

We haven't been talking about some neofolk for a while, have we? Nechochwen's first release was full neofolk, and well, it's just so rich and deep that it's hard to talk about it. This is an album which requires more than a couple listens to actually dive into it, because of how many instruments appear in the sound layers, and because of the lack of usual song structures. It requires much attention to really get into it, because it's complex in terms of songs composition and sonorities. Album is almost instrumental, and only some choirs and male vocals appear from time to time. Melodies are rather unusual too, sometimes cold and almost annoying, sometimes warm and melancholic. They feature some ritualistic percussions which may sound a bit too much in the foreground at times, yet they add a lot to the sound diversity. Maybe the fact that Nechochwen isn't linked to scandinavian folk makes for its uncommon sound, too, as many bands tend to refer to norse folk sonoroties, when it's all about American traditions here.

Algonkian mythos and Talgayeeta are good songs to start with this album. Check those out! And follow Nechochwen on Facebook.

Other reviews from Nechochwen:
   - Azimuths to the otherworld

Nebelkorona - Tannenhochforst

Genre : Neofolk / Ambient

Nebelkorona deliver quite a surprising sound, close to the dark ambient genre. Imagine some deep melodies, guitars, pianos and synths mixed into repetitive layers, and low vocals, almost spoken words at times. Vocals have quite a big reverb, turning the solo singing to some choir-sound at some point, and lyrics are in German. However, this recipe successfully creates a melancholic and deep atmosphere, and the melodies are beautiful, to say the least. On top of this, there is some drumming which takes part into the mix. Definitely not insane blast beats, just some ryhthm line in the arrangement. But that makes this release tend to some epic feeling, which adds a lot to the atmosphere. Something that deserves a listen if you enjoy melancholic and epic neofolk.

Check out Sonnenhall and Waldzauber to get into it. And follow Nebelkorona on Facebook.

Musk ox - Musk ox

Genre : Mostly instrumental neofolk

As opposed to what is usual in neofolk, Musk ox features long instrumental tracks instead of short ones. However, the elements used there are the ones we're habited to, including pianos, acoustic guitars, nature-sounds samples... At first, it's a bit confusing to have such melancholic cold pianos coupled with somehow warm and more joyful guitars, but in the end it's quite well-arranged and creates atmosphere changes successfully. There are also vocal parts, done an ambient way which makes lyrics hard to get. That isn't bad anyway, as it lets the music talk by itself. Apart from this, Musk ox is quite an usual neofolk album, with a real breath of fresh air in it. A superb and perfectly done nature-bound sound, with huge melodic parts that carry real emotions through clever musicianship.

Take a listen to it, with Entre la terre et le ciel and Sur une infinie route de terre. And follow Musk ox on Facebook.

Corde oblique - Respiri

Genre : Neofolk

Sometimes, neofolk is minimalistic with only acoustic guitars. However, this is not the case here, and Corde oblique rather sets an extremly rich neofolk, featuring guitars, violins, pianos, drums, female and male vocals, with many kinds of singing. Also, influences are diverse, including some brand of medieval, classical, baroque sounds at times, or more oriental music at others (possibly because they're actually italian). Tagging this neofolk is quite tricky, however it's definitely folk, I can say. Well, one flaw in their sound, and possibly the only one, could be the bad accent on english singing. Apart from that, Respiri never gets boring, is extremely diverse and rich, calm and melancholic at times, faster and happier at others. An intense listen, that's for sure, which should please any folk lovers.

Two songs are not enough considering the multiple facets of this album, but check out Dentro and Eventi. And follow Corde oblique on Facebook.

Solanaceae - Solanaceae

Genre : Neofolk

Would you enjoy warm neofolk with deep male vocals, Solanaceae's effort is going to please you. Apart from a single song with ethereal female vocals (which I won't complain about although I don't see why it's here), this album delivers simple, sometimes minimalistic guitar-oriented neofolk with nice ambient sounds and deep, warm, strong vocals, sometimes adding other layers. This album features no drums and a few other instruments, including flutes and violins, but their occurences are most of time welcome, since they add interesting atmospheres to the sound. In that case, it perfectly suits the idea of the record, and most of the songs here are highly enjoyable, successfully merging melancholy and some kind of warmth, mainly because of the typical vocals, making for a versatile, rich and intense release.

You may want to listen to Hemlock and Mandrake fields and I saw her through the pines if I didn't make enough sense.

Lönndom - Viddernas tolv kapitel

Genre : Neofolk

Former folk black band, Löndom switched to acoustic music with this release, and that didn't prevent them from doing a great work. Keeping male choirs and traditional swedish singing, they set an interesting neofolk, closer to traditional music than just acoustic nature-bound soundscapes. Therefore, they mostly use cold melodies and atmospheres, along with nature-sounds samples. In terms of instrumentation, it's mostly guitar-driven. Vocals are the most unusual part, as those are not always meant to sound "good". What I mean with that, is that Lönndom are not afraid to keep it very close to traditions, with that kind of campfire singing, when nothing was meant in a technical way. For sure, you'll need to get used to those viking-esque vocals before enjoying this album.

Would you mind giving it a listen, Höstdagar and Skaldekonst om ljusets återkomst are really nice songs. And follow Lönndom on Facebook.

Vergissmeinnicht - His own strange songs

Genre : (Mostly instrumental) neofolk

Some artists and bands loose their creativity after their first release. However, Vergissmeinnicht's Whispering solitude was just a warm-up, and now this is really serious business. His own strange songs is a pure jewel among neofolk, with all you can ask for in such a genre. Rich, melodic, melancholic, everything's gathered here. The add of a couple drums give a new warmth to the songs, but that's not the only improvement here. Guitar melodies are more complex and deeper, with better structures. The ethereal vocals return with more mastery, they fit better into the music. Ambient sounds such as storm and water are still way too loud, but that's easily forgiven since they're a minor part of the album. And the rest is gone, which is actually a good thing, because it's so pure that we don't need flutes or other instruments anymore.

Evening moon is pure beauty. Existence too. Why are you still reading? Just listen!

Other reviews from Vergissmeinnicht:
   - Whispering solitude

Vergissmeinnicht - Whispering solitude

Genre : (Mostly instrumental) neofolk

If I come to you and say "hey, I found chinese folk!", you're all scared, aren't you? Well, I was, too. However, Vergissmeinnicht has nothing to envy occidental folk bands. What we have here is a very melodic, deep and calming neofolk, with ethereal male vocals featuring a couple english lyrics in the background. Well, that's almost all you have, but who dares saying simplest things cannot be good? They're even the best ones, sometimes. In some cases like this one, no need to add layers of instruments, as the aim is definitely reached, with rich, melancholic guitar and flute melodies. All we want. All you want, too, if you can forgive a couple out-of-tune parts and some noisy ambient sounds, which you should.

A superb piece of this album is for sure Innocent. Also check out Whispering solitude.

Other reviews from Vergissmeinnicht:
   - His own strange songs

Vàli - Forlatt

Genre : Instrumental neofolk

Vàli plays a calming and inspiring neofolk, mostly made with warm folk guitars, playing unforgettable melodies. Behind those, are often hidden a couple flutes, pianos, violins, or light female choirs. Still, the strength of Vàli is to setup diverse atmospheres, through the use of complex and rich melodies. Therefore, Forlatt switchs from light parts to melancholic sounds, always kept a very natural feel, without any kind of percussions. Poetic, calming, soothing, Vàli is all that at a time, and undoubtedly one of the best instrumental neofolk of all times.

Enjoy this one through Dypt inne i skogen and Naar vinden graater.... And follow Vàli on Facebook.

Nest - Trail of the unwary

Genre : (Mostly instrumental) neofolk

Nest plays a very unusual brand of neofolk. Instead of it being guitar-driven like we're habited to, the melodic lines are played with kantele (a traditional finnish instrument), flutes, and some kind of ritualistic percussions. This gives a very dreamy and calming atmosphere to this album, sometimes darkened by the use of distorted guitars in the background, or deep male vocals. Overall, there aren't many vocals here, it's more a matter of  atmosphere when there are. Nest are among those bands hard to describe with words, but if you enjoy calm, dreamy, yet sometimes dark neofolk, they should definitely please you.

This album features many long songs, check out Hunt which should give a nice overview of their genre, or Moonbow. And follow Nest on Facebook.

Nhor - Nhor

Genre : Instrumental neofolk / Ambient

Nhor is much of an underground project, setting a brand of neofolk highly influenced by ambient pianos. Therefore, guitars are a minor part there, and the main lines are played by a high-reverb piano, giving a real feeling of emptiness. Add this to the fact it's played the saddest possible way, without any vocals, all this creates a huge feeling of loneliness. Nhor is able to set a melancholic, even depressive atmosphere just through a couple notes. But hey, this is not an ugly sadness, no, you know, it's that kind of pure ethereal beauty that'd make your heart feel like it never did before, yet a melancholic way. Piano lovers, don't miss that one, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Words are not enough for this, just dive into The branches are gathered or Giantess, and enjoy. And follow Nhor on Facebook.

Wardruna - Runaljod: Gap var Ginnunga

Genre : Neofolk

Wardruna doesn't play common neofolk based on guitars. Instead, we have here a mostly shamanic sound. This includes typical nordic folk instrumentation, featuring jew's harps, traditional drumming, and much more. On top of that, vocals really keep that feeling sincere, with male or female choirs sung in a whole viking way. What makes Wardruna different from the others is precisely that sincerity, this is raw nordic folk like it should be, not modified through other non-original instrumentation. There's a lot to feel on Runaljod but this is defiinitely a complex album that is hard to express with mere words, and that requires more than a single listen to really get into. You'd better dig it if you want to know more about nordic culture and sounds.

Get a taste with Hagal and Jara before you go.

Darkwood - Notwendfeuer

Genre : Neofolk

Darkwood plays neofolk with a big amount of male vocals, a little martial at times, but most of the time the singer is kind enough to make german sound soft and gentle, as opposed to the usual beliefs regarding this language. Thus, this release is an interesting melancholic guitar oriented folk with some violins, including a fine amount of melodies that should stick in your head for a while. Few other elements here, apart from a very shy distorted guitar at times, or some interesting female vocals.

Ostenfeld and Wintermärchen may be among the best tracks on this one. Have a listen!

Neun Welten - Destrunken

Genre : (Mostly instrumental) neofolk

Although Neun Welten plays strict neofolk, it's not hard to witness some typical metal influences there, such as the use of blastbeats, or strong bass lines. Still, carrying with them many classical instruments and a violin in the foreground, those guys appear to be one of the richest neofolk bands around. Not to say "the more instruments there is, the better it is", but Neun Welten give us a strong and versatile, yet not boring at all release. Very few vocals here, but the appearences of both female and male ones give even more diversity to the album. If you enjoy calm folk and violins, they should definitely please your ears.

Destrunken and Tau are amazing pieces of music. Check those out! And follow Neun Welten on Facebook.