  
Massacre/Sound Pollution
German pagan metal godfathers ADORNED BROOD returns with their eight albums since 1996. Since their beginning in 1993 the band seems to have matured and developed, plus toured a lot since 2010 and “Hammerfeste”. Surely a gig in Sao Paolo in December must have been an artist bonus as cold as this winter has been. Arrangements, instrumentation combined with groovy folk melodies and classical metal seems to be the way to go according to the info sheet. Let´s find out.
“Einkehr” opens the proceedings with a jolly folk party, complete with pomp and all. The title track really combines a lot into one track, in a convincing way. The same goes for “Call of the Wild”. But the grand epic “Victory or Valhall” doesn´t really tick all that many boxes. A short flute instrumental later neither does the hockey-anthem like “Men!”. “Kreutzeslast” has a varied opening, piano and more laid-back ingredients suits this band, but the black-ish parts aren´t all that inspiring. The rest of the album gets mostly “ok” scribbled in my notes, but as soon as they mix enough a song like “Just a Fight” raises above average. The same happens in the opposite direction as “A War Poem” has way too much black injected. Aggression in a controlled way seems best for this band if you ask me. Closing track “We Are Legion” fares much better and conveys the fighting spirit ADORNED BROOD tries to impose on their hordes of fans. This album is an ok contribution to the genre, but I think a little thinking about their exact future direction might come in handy.
Track List
Einkehr
Kuningaz
Call of the Wild
Victory or Valhall
Hugin
Men!
Kreutzeslast
Just a Fight
Munin
A War Poem
We Are Legion
Totenmarsch 2012
www.massacre-records.com www.adornedbrood.de
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