I'm spending my easter time listening to Finnish pagan metal and sadly not eating any Finnish easter pudding (that infamous brown stuff that tastes oh so heavenly)! Some good music at least... Okay, on to the review now.

Hin Onde is a new band to me, but I think this is Hin Onde's debut full length album. Previously the band was known as Svartalfheim. Guitarist/vocalist NRQ (a.k.a. Narqath) also plays in black metal horde Azaghal and his Summoning-style synth project Valar. Musically Hin Onde sound something like a mixture between older Amorphis and Thyrfing. Got my point? Melodic metal with influences from black, dark and heavy metal. Musically songs are quite straight, but catchy in a good way and unique to some extent. And very Finnish at their heart.

Production job is not very good: the sound is too thin, some synthesizers sound cheap and there's some clear playing mistakes. These aren't big flaws, though, and I believe the next album will blow me away! I feel 'Songs of Battle' gets harder towards the end (up to 'Paganheart'). Bonus tracks are earlier takes on the album tracks, without clean vocals. Not bad versions at all.

A lot of lyrical themes are from Norse mythology and of course about Christians polluting our land with their lies and vanity. NRQ handles growled vocals well, but guest vocalist Jani Hytönen's clear singing is quite good at times, sounding like more aggressive Vincent Cavanaugh (Anathema). The booklet looks good and isn't it nice when it like adds to overall feeling? A good record, but there's a lot of room for improvement, which I believe will happen next time!

Rating: 6+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
04/16/2001 18:05