We have an album by a band called Folkodia. That, of course, spells but one thing: Folk Metal! And loads of it dear kids! And the fact that the record is called Battles and Myths gives plenty of hints as to what direction this Folk Metal tends to: the heroic and epic type!

Folkodia is apparently a spin off from this massive international Folk Metal project called Folkearth. That means not all of the countless musicians from Folkearth are involved. In fact, only a fraction is: I count only 13 members on Encyclopaedia Metallum, though only 10 are listed on the album insert. In any case, small band, NOT!

I would swear on my scrotum that I’ve heard this band before, just have no idea where and when. The track I’ve embedded only seems to be online since mid-June and either my short-term memory is leaving me or this just looks a lot like something else I’ve heard a longer time ago. It’s probably the former, combined with the scientifically proven fact that I’m an idiot.

But that’s not what I want to discuss today. Or ever. Instead, let’s talk about Brymir, yeah? They play a de-li-cious form of Pagan / Folk Metal, dark as an armpit inside a sweaty sweater, yet melodic as a motherfucker, like a mix of Ensiferum and Insomnium – thanks to motig for making that comparison and for recommending the band in fact. As inevitable as death, and you’ve probably already guessed it, these guys are Finnish.

Vienna was shaping up to have a blast of an evening with the tour lineup that was announced. Three strong Metal acts with varying degrees of pagan leanings, all touring on recently released albums and all producing music that works great in a live atmosphere. Escape, a pub of around 200-capacity in the room downstairs itself, didn’t know what hit it. Moonsorrow and Týr were co-headliners; some may argue that they are different sounds, but, as Mitja and Ville pointed out, Pagan Metal is not governed by genre stylings but by an atmosphere, which was certainly present at this concert.

[A short while ago, DMB writer Angel did an interview with Finnish Pagan Metallers Moonsorrow when he attended their gig. The original transcription of this was published on Angel’s own weblog, In Angel’s Head [Phones]. We’re publishing a slightly adapted version of the article today.]

When you talk about Folk / Pagan Metal, Moonsorrow is one of the bands that’s often named first. They’re from the Finnish echelons of the genre and have been active since 1995. Their name stems from a Celtic Frost song, called Sorrows of the Moon, however, they didn’t immediately start out as a Folk Metal band, but as a Black Metal outfit. An influence still heard in their stuff today.

Recently, I checked in with Ville (bass) and Mitja (guitars) from Moonsorrow, while in the midst of the Dead Tyrants Tour with Tyr and Crimfall, supporting the latest album release, Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa. They took some time out before preparing for the gig (drinking tea and vodka, in good Finnish fashion) to answer some questions about the tour, the album and a few surprises along the way.

So yeah, the evening of Monday November 7^th started with a huge fuckin’ disappointment: Omnium Gatherum. Not that they didn’t play well, I just wouldn’t know. Because I fuckin’ missed them. Because I was an hour fuckin’ late at the venue, The Garage, on Highbury Corner! Why was I an hour late for the band I wanted to see that night, the band I came for in the first place? Well not because I was a sloth and looked on my watch too late before I left! It was because the Neckbreaker’s Ball tour site stated the show would kick off at 5:45 pm, while in reality the show commenced at 4:45 pm.

Admittedly I took this news from NCS (bottom of the post). Shame on me, as a Dutchman and as someone originally from Gelderland, where the Saxons rule, drink beer and rape your women. I should have my skull split by a huge fuckin’ axe, I know.

Folk / Pagan outfit Heidevolk – meaning Heath Folk or Heath People – sings about the history of Gelderland, the region that’s now one of the twelve Dutch provinces, and which was full of tough motherfuckers in (pre-)medieval times. Their stuff is covered with a sauce of ancient Germanic mythology and serves it up in a superbly heroic fashion. The “news” is that they have an album out since we last dealt with with at The Baboon. It’s called Uit Oude Grond (From Old Soil) and came out in March of 2010… Someone bash me with a warhammer please.

Anyfuck, they did a music video for the album’s opening song and that’s what we found at NCS and would like to pass on after the jump.

Yes, this band is called ‘Folge dem Wind’, which is German for ‘Follow the Wind’. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “these guys are German and they probably sing in German too, right?” Nope, wrong! They are French and they sing in English (apart from a few lines in French). Confusing, ey?! The band hails out of a town called Montgeron, which isn’t even near to Germany either, so I guess they just like German, as they were called ‘Die Wahrheit Steht im Blut’ (also German, for ‘The Truth Stand in Blood’) before this.

Folge dem Wind formed in 1999, to produce a primitive sort of Black Metal, close to nature in sound and feel. In line with that, they take Pagan influences and spit upon the modern world and its self-favoring culture. Well, after a demo in 2005 and a debut record in 2009 (titled Thus Echoes the Earth), the five men using Pagan nicknames are about to release their second album in early March 2011. We got a little tap into their label’s (Code666, a cult-focused sublabel of the Aural Music Group) new releases, and so we’re able to discuss this even before it hits the market’s official channels.