Draugnim - Northwind's Ire

Band/artist - Draugnim
Genre(s) - Pagan metal
Origin - Finland
Album - Northwind's Ire
Year of release - 2008

According to their last.fm page, the aim of Draugnim is "to bring light to the stories of old pagan past with strong melodies and raw expression, emphasizing on mood rather than technical boasting." I think we should congratulate them, because this is exactly what they do. Northwind's Ire is a tour de force of epic, folk-influenced guitar riffs that have been vainly structured into tracks - it flows together like one long ever-changing song. Slow, majestic keyboards function as a backdrop and never take the center stage. There's a constant and infectuous sense of warriors' pride and nostalgia present in the music's atmosphere, which is organic and warm enough to really dream away to. Vocals (harsh only) and drums don't really stand out but they do their job just fine. One of the band's best decisions is to keep to a midtempo pace. This, with the great flow of the melodies, gives a very oceanic feeling to the music. You really feel like you're sailing your drakkar on the wild and open sea, with the Northwind in your sails, waves pounding the hull and spray in your face. It didn't make it into my top-20 of 2008, but only just.

1. Moonpath
2. Craionhorn
3. Fear of the fallen
4. Towards the dusk
5. Will dawn rise again
6. Sworn to waves
7. Archein
   

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