Heidevolk – Vuur Van Verzet
Album Review by Adam McCann
Label : Napalm Records
Year : 2018
Heidevolk retake old ground
In a way, Heidevolk separate themselves from their peers in folk metal by singing more of their locality than your bog standard Scandinavian Viking themes. Hailing from the Netherlands, what you get with this band are local mythologies and pagan Germanic influences through standard folk metal tinged with the occasional blackened flair that would appeal to the fans Falkenbach, Ensiferum and Metsatöll.
So, what is ‘Vuur Van Verzet’ like? Well, it is a grower to say the least. At first listen, the songs can blend into one giant amalgamation of generic folk metal, of course, there are some instantly standout tracks such as ‘A Wolf in My Heart’ and the storming ‘Britannia’ detailing the invasion of Britain by Hengist and Horsa who led the Angles, Saxons and Jutes to their new home. However, ‘Vuur Van Verzet’ requires time to sink in and before you know it, you will be happily singing along to the likes of ‘Ontwaakt’, ‘Tiwaz’ and the hypnotically driving ‘Yngwaz’ Zonen’ which has the ability to transport you to a mead hall in the fifth century AD with its rousing chants.
Although there are some gems on this album, the second half does fall a little flat with not even ‘Woedend’ being able to save it. This means that the album struggles to capture the majesty of the first half and unfortunately this means that ‘Vuur Van Verzet’ is another average release from Heidevolk which falls short of their first two releases of ‘Walhalla Wacht’ and ‘De Strijdlust is Geboren’ as the band re-tread old ground.
Rating : 74/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
