Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Kivimetsan Druidi
Label: Century Media
Release: 2008
Kivimetsan Druidi were founded in 2002 by the Koskinen brothers with the aim of playing folk metal in the vein of fellow Finns Moonsorrow, whom the brothers count as the biggest influence on their music. After a ton of lineup changes and a pile of recordings that wound up on a few demos and two EPs, they caught the attention of yet another oompa-loompa-oompa-di-da band from Finland, Korpiklaani. Those guys took them under their wing and dragged them off on tour. So before they’d even released a debut, Kivimetsan Druidi had already played a good number of European stages. And this year, for Century Media, they’ve finally put out that debut, titled Shadowheart. Oh yeah, Kivimetsan Druidi means druids of the stone forest. Real original…
But the guys and the gal don’t stop at a pathetic name, because Shadowheart knocks down cliché after cliché. First up, the lyrics, which are based on a fantasy novel being written by guitarist/vocalist Joni Koskinen. The novel tells the story of “The Land of the Crystal Mountain and Stone Forest” and it’s already laughable in its own right, since it’s nothing more than a bad knockoff of Lord of the Rings. Dragons, betrayal, revenge, the eternal struggle between good and evil, friendship and a quasi-epic story? “Check.” We carry on with the symphonic folk metal, which is totally played out and soulless, drawing its influences from countless similar bands. Here you get raw, aggressive male growls reminiscent of the more viking/black metal-leaning Moonsorrow and Finntroll. The epic structures, carried mostly by the keyboards, are stuff we’ve already heard from the likes of Ensiferum. Generic riffs, brainless passages and guitars that mostly rely on boring power chord sawing certainly don’t do much to make Shadowheart more varied or interesting. The drumming is solid enough, but the triggered bass drum is nasty, and the interplay of keyboard and guitar patterns is, once again, something we’ve heard a million times. Technically the performance is good and confident, but that’s just not everything, because Shadowheart is mainly missing soul and original ideas. And the clichés aren’t over yet, because the finale is the played-out “beauty and the beast” concept of alternating male growls and quasi-angelic vocals from Lenni-Marie. Fine, but this young lady’s voice has such an irritating tone that it’s extremely hard to push through the album’s good fifty minutes precisely because of her “contribution”. Songs that are as alike as two peas in a pod and don’t stand out in any way don’t help one bit to make Shadowheart any easier to digest. In fact, Shadowheart is more like a bone that gets stuck in your throat.
Shadowheart and Kivimetsan Druidi thus practically beg for the following sentence, which in this case is all too true, about a folk metal band rescuing a princess from a dragon. The protagonist arrives with friends, playing accordions, violins, flutes and other weird instruments, and the dragon falls asleep (from all the dancing). The protagonists leave…….. without the princess.
Line-up
Joni Koskinen – vocals, guitar
Antti Koskinen – keyboards
Antti Rinkinen – guitar
Simo Lehtonen – bass
Atte Marttinen – drums
Leeni-Maria Hovila – vocals
Production
Esa Orjatsalo
Tracklist
1.Northwind – Prelude
2.Blacksmith
3.Jäässä Varttunut
4.Halls of Shadowheart
5.Pedon Loitsu
6.Burden
7.The Tyrant
8.Tiarnäch – Verinummi
9.Verivala
10.Korpin Laulu
11.Mustan Valtikan Aika
