Moonsorrow - V. Havitetty

Artist : Moonsorrow (1995 - present)

Album : Viides Luku Havitetty (2007)

Genre : Metal (take your pick for a sub-genre)

Rating : ***** ** (out of 10*)

This Week I'm Listening To...
Moonsorrow is a Metal band from Finland. They have been tagged at various times as Folk-Metal, Black-Metal, Pagan-Metal, Prog-Metal, Epic-Metal, and Viking-Metal. All the descriptors have equal merit; reinforcing my theory that discussions such as "Is it Black-Metal or Pagan-Metal?" are merely pseudo-Mensan hogwash.

V. Havitetty ("Chapter 5 : Ravaged") is their latest CD, and they have a 2008 release in the works. V.H consists of two tracks only, each about 30 minutes long.

What's To Like...
The studio engineering is complex; with at times as many as 10 tracks being mixed at once. There are some decent riffs and "folksy" metal; and both tracks have a nice continuity to them - slowly building in intensity over the course of a half-hour.

What's Not To Like...
The mixing may be complex, but it's not excellent. The guitar-work should be more prominent. The "prog" changes aren't all that substantial. The guitar riffs are okay, but both tracks cry out for some extended, rip-snortin' guitar solos.

Finally, the screeching vocals are just plain silly. I cringe to think what Moonsorrow sounds like live.

The Spirit of Vinyl is Alive and Well...
For a 2007 release, this sure has an "LP feel" to it. Two tracks at 30 and 26 minutes in length, respectively. Can it be that vinyl still influences the track-length of CD's? LP's are making a comeback. More and more artists are doing limited issues of new music on LP's. And I can attest that the price of used vinyl is on the rise. About all that remains in the $1 bargain bins are Jane Fonda's Workout Double-LP, and Jackie Gleason's Greatest Hits.

But I digress. V.H is a good (albeit not great) effort, and is said to be more Metallic, and less folk-oriented than Moonsorrow's previous albums. If so, I may have to give those a listen. It definitely is a unique direction for this genre (name any other metal album that consists of two half-hour tracks), and one can only hope that Moonsorrow continues to evolve, both musically and in song-composing. Hey, maybe they can even find a decent singer and do away with the screeches.