Customer Reviews

Voice of Wilderness

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the second review I'm writing for these guys, the first review having been a quick one for Spirit of the Forest, based on my first impressions. On many further listens, I maintain that this music is positively stunning. This album is every bit as perfect as Spirit. I know a lot of people refer to this as some happy - party - drunken type music, and to some extent this is true, but for me this music really touches the nature spirit, it makes me yearn for dark forests and native wisdom like nothing else! It is powerful, emotional, so full of energy, and touches my soul to the core.

Maybe this is just my reaction, I don't know, but for anyone else who feels it, Korpiklaani has 2 other albums under the name Shaman that also have this amazing nature energy, and I recommend them wholeheartedly. Over the few months that I've been listening to them, those 4 albums put together are rapidly becoming my most cherished among *hundreds* of CDs! Straight-up metalheads beware though, the Shaman albums are not that heavy at all, and emphasize the folk part even more - including a lot of really amazing native chanting... of course it's not in English, but this does not matter to me, the music and chanting are Magickal without having to be understood in a literal sense...

At first I did not like this album as much as their last, but after listening to it over and over, I now consider it equal. It is, as some stated before, a lot heavier and faster and the vocals aren't sung much, they're a lot grittier. The melodies are still here, which is the most important part. I don't think Korpiklaani sound that much like Finntroll, they're a lot more melody oriented and use traditional instrumentation in favor of cheesy sounding keyboards, and they don't have that whole black metal sound going for them. Every song is unique, and full of traditional sounding Finnish folk blended with melodic metal touches. Don't listen to the person who said all the songs are written in the same key, they're not. Korpiklaani are one of the most original and innovative bands around in today's metal scene, and this album is very good. I would recommend this to fans of anything from Frigg to Finntroll, people into medieval music will probably enjoy this also.

I can't say how much I enjoy this band. I listen, deep listen to tons of metal. Metal is my life. I can hear creativity, passion, energy, brilliance in music even if it isn't my favorite genre. This however is..and i think Korpiklaani are exceptional musicians.

Korpiklaani and Finntroll may both be playing Finnish folk metal, but the styles are completely different. Finntroll is much more akin to black metal, while Korpiklaani sounds like the Flogging Molly of metal. They have an actual folk singer, and that seems to be the main difference.

For you Finntroll fans out there, I recommend you take a look at Mithotyn and Suidakra before checking this out. Mithotyn is more akin to Finntroll than this, and Suidakra sounds the most like Mithotyn if you like their style.

For those of you who think a folk singer might sound good singing along to a heavy metal accompaniment (and a fiddle, don't forget the fiddle), then this is proof that you are right. Somehow, Korpiklaani make this arrangement work and work well. This is an improvement upon their first album, Spirit of the Forest, so hopefully when/if they release another one, it will be even better than this.

Highlights on this album include "Spirit of the Forest", "Old Tale", and "Kaedet Siipinae", which is a beautiful way to end this album. Unfortunately, a few mediocre songs are thrown in as well, warranting this a four-star rating, but it's still worth a look.

KORPIKLAANI DID IT AGAIN . THESE GUYS ARE SO GOOD I HAVE A HARD TIME BELIEVING I HAVEN'T DIED AND AM BEING REWARDED FOR DEALING WITH HUMANITY . I GUESS I AM BEING REWARDED ACTUALLY . KORPIKLAANI DOES THE FOLK METAL THING SO WELL . THE VOCALS ARE VERY HUMAN ALMOST MORE PUNK THAN METAL NOT GREEN DAY PUNK BUT EARLY D.R.I. THRASHY HOLLERING NO BLAST BEATS VEARY GROOVY AND EASY TO FOLLOW . FOLK METAL IS USUALLY METAL WITH FOLKY BITS BUT KORPIKLAANI IS FOLK MUSIC WITH METAL BITS .

Thrashy folk metal with pipe and fiddles. Very good. I tend to like thrash, speed metal and power metal and I really enjoy this even though its different than other groups I've heard. The only other fold metal I,ve bought is Skyclad but this sounds heavier to me, but I still like the Skyclad I've heard too.

I prefer Spirit of the Forest to this album. On Spirit the melodies stand out more, where I feel on this album rhythms are dominant and the songs are less distinctive. So if you are more into fast rhythms than strong melodies then you will prefer this album. The folk influence mainly comes from the fiddle, with pipes and accordeon also on some songs. Native Land is my favorite song on the album, it is a fitting anthem for a tiny country that held off the Soviets far longer than expected during WWII. I give the songs on this album 3 stars, and 5 stars to the band for being cool enough to combine folk and metal.

I'm a very picky person, unlike some who hand out 5 stars as if they were candy. With that being said, I enjoyed Korpiklaani's latest album "Tales Along this Road" much better than this one, "Voice of Wilderness". I'll explain why.

"Voice of Wilderness" starts off strong with the catchy "Cottages and Saunas" (and I can't help but smile when I hear them try to pronounce "saunas"). But sadly, the next great song, "Spirit of the Forest", doesn't appear until several tracks later. "Beer Beer" almost found its way into my picky music library, but for one problem: "Happy Little Boozer" from their latest album is much better.

The rest of the songs do their job of creating that fireside folksy ambience, but that's about all. I didn't find them all that catchy.

If you like folk metal I also recommend the Estonian folk metal bands Raud-Ants (female fronted) and Metsatoell (male fronted).

Aside from the blistering alliteration used in the title, this album is fantastic. They upped their production from their past efforts which, though losing some of the darker and primal feel retained by the darker production, it is a much easier listen. And do not, I repeat, DO NOT, listen to the review previous to this. This band is very similar to finntroll, much more so than more black metal influenced acts like Mithotyn, and though some of the songs do run together, it is still an overall successful rendition of Finnish themed folk metal. I enjoy practically every song on this cd and can listen to it more than once in a sitting.

If you like Finntroll or folk/metal in general I would recommend this cd highly.

i will not lie, this cd is friggin awesome. it really is, but the is only one flaw in this cd, every song is in the same key. my favorite song on this cd, Hunting Song, starts off on the same key, but in minor, but then it goes back to the same key used in the rest of the cd. i give this cd 4 stars, because of the same reason. hopefully on their next cd they'l be a little more flexible on that.