Forest Fires

Manegarm - Urminnes Havd - The Forest Sessions (2006) {Displeased Records D-00148}
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© 2006 Displeased Records | D-00148
Folk / Neo-Folk / Acoustic / Swedish / Svenska

This is Manegarm's acoustic folk EP (or mini album, as it's labeled by the label) - and that pretty much sums it up to a tee. There isn't a hint of a plugged-in instrument here, and hence, nothing that can be labeled as "metal" (unless you consider some shouted vocals as being inherently metallic). Acoustic guitars play behind or alongside fiddles (which are the predominant instrument throughout) while more esoteric hand drums, mouth harps and other folk-instruments-that-I-don't-know-the-name-of join in. Atmospheric, woodland samples of birdies, breezes, clopping hooves and crackling fires are used to good effect to set the verdant visuals. Vocals switch back and forth between clean female and male vocals (both sung in that flat, vibrato-heavy "Viking" way), gang chorus shouts pop up occasionally ("HEY!"), as do angry, grittier male vocals ("GRRR!" - um - no one actually goes "Grrr" - it just seemed to fit in that space. They really do yell "HEY!" though).