Yggdrasil

One has to admit, the German psychedelic rock reissue label Garden of Delights puts a lot of care in its sampler albums. They are generous - occasionally to the detriment of an album - and packaged with informative and lavish 16-page booklets. For every tenth release of their catalogue they pick a track from each of the nine previous releases and compile them under a volume of this series. All catalogue numbers are an integer multiple of ten. The tracks chosen for these samplers comprise recordings from the field of progressive rock music in all its different shades, ranging from psychedelic to symphonic, fusion and blues-rock, provided that there are progressive elements in it.

Vikings and metal tend to go together very well, and the idea of combining the two has obviously been made popular by the likes of Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth and German power metal band Rebellion, and now a new challenger has arrived to prove themselves worthy of fighting for Odin. That band is Brothers of Metal, from Sweden, and they have unleashed their debut Prophecy of Ragnarok, which is not only an incredibly addictive power metal album, with varying influences from other genres and a ton of different exciting elements, but it also happens to be perhaps the very best Viking themed metal album I’ve ever heard, as the band takes familiar ideas and mashes them together perfectly, while also managing to create their own distinct sound that really has to be heard…

An important release for the extreme music subgenre of Viking metal, Frost represented a sizeable creative leap for Norway's Enslaved. After only a few years of existence, several record labels, and a few member changes, Enslaved had settled into a bit of a groove on this 1994 release. Bassist/vocalist Grutle Kjellson leads the way with plenty of throat splitting call-outs to various Norse gods and apocalyptic battle descriptions, while Ivar Bjørnson (guitar, keyboards) and Trym Torson (drums) plow through plenty of destructive riffs of their own. The music oscillates between spooky, plodding keyboard intros to black metal so fast and furious, barely a beat or melody is descernable. Highlights include the relatively decipherable "Fenris" and the slow, dissonant "Yggdrasil," but in general, all the tracks on Frost bear enough of a resemblance to make this 1994 release a fine black metal listen…