While Trollfest may sound like the name of a music festival, they are in fact a Norwegian ”Baltic metal” band that mix Balkan folk music with black or extreme metal, to produce a quite unique and crazy sound. The band formed in 2004 and released their debut album ”Willkommen Folk tell Drekka Fest!!” in 2005. Brumlebassen is their fifth album.
OK for people who haven’t listened to Trollfest before, how would I describe them? I’d start with a folk metal band then feed them massive amounts of caffeine to get them playing much faster than normal. Add in a dose of insanity so they start writing the lyrics in a fictional language and you’re heading in the right direction. Add in a large amount of alcohol to get the party spirit going and thats it – you’ve got Trollfest.
The lyrics are often written in Trollspråk – apparently a mix of German and Norwegian, so I really can’t tell you much about the lyrics. The music is very varied – ranging from breakneck speeds to slower tracks, and with instruments such as the Saxophone and Accordion the band stop the music straying too far into black metal territory and give the music a unique sound – certainly off the top of my head I can’t think of any other metal bands that incorporate saxophones into their music, and I’m sure there aren’t any using both saxophone and accordion (there are plenty of folk metal bands using the accordion but not alongside a saxophone). The album has a real crazy fun feel to it, which reflects their live performances.
There are guest musicians appearing on the album including Vreth from Finntroll and Mariangela from Tristania.
The album will be available as limited digi pack, gatefold vinyl and download including “Konterbier” as bonus track. The digi pack also includes an individual and exclusive download code for the bonus DVD incl. “making of Brumlebassen”, “Heidenfest 2011 tour video” and other bonus content.
Comments on a few songs…
THe album opens with the title track ”Brumlebassen”. It starts with birds chirping and the sound of a bee buzzing before the peace is shattered by the sound of drums, guitar and accordion played at ridiculously high speed. The shouted growly vocals
”Sellout” is a song that stands out as it sounds quite different to the rest of the album – slightly slower and less extreme, plus it has guest vocals from Mariangela Demurtes (Tristania) and has more distinct verses and chorus. It’s a good song, but quite different from their more typical stuff and as a result it does stand out.
”Rundt Bålet” is a strange song – it starts with some accordion and sounds like a sea shanty before the guitars and drums kick in at break-neck speed and the song becomes almost a death-metal sea shanty. Totally bonkers but it just works and is a great track.
Brumlebassen is a crazy fun and heavy album – if you’re a fan of folk metal and fancy something a bit heavier then this is definitely the album for you.
Brumlebassen will be released on 24th August 2012 on Noiseart records
Trollfest are:
Trollmannen – Vocals
Mr. Seidel – Guitar
Per Spelemann – Guitar
PsychoTroll – Bass
Manskow – Accordion
Drekka Dag – Saxophone
Trollbank – Drums
Track listing:
1. Brumlebassen
2. Böse Tivoli
3. Illsint
4: Hevlette
5. Finsken, Norsken og Presten
6. Mystisk Maskert
7. Apis Mellifera
8. TrinkenTroll
9. Verboten Kjærleik
10. Bråk
11. Sellout
12. Rundt Bålet
13. Konterbier (bonus track limited digi pack & vinyl)
