Skyforger - Kurbads

Release Date: May 8th, 2010
Label: Metal Blade Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Curse of the Witch
2.  Son of the Mare
3.  The Nine-Headed
4.  Bewitched Forest
5.  In the Yard of the Father’s Son
6.  The Devilslayer
7.  The Stone Sentinel
8.  In the Underworld
9.  Black Rider
10.  The Last Battle
11.  Kurbads (bonus track)

Total playing time:  49:39

November 25, 2010

Reviewer: Peter

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*Comments:

On the list of “bands that need to come out with an album,” one band that was definitely on there was Skyforger.  Their last proper album Swordsong was released in 2003, with a compilation and a re-release of their first full-length also seeing the light of day since then.  This year, one can take Skyforger off of that list, as they have a new album out in Kurbads and a new record label in Metal Blade Records.

When going into Kurbads, one can expect a little rust from the band, as they haven’t been in the studio for a while.  At times, it’s even easy to forget what Skyforger sounded like on their last album.  With their opening track “Curse of the Witch,” Skyforger reminds the listener what they sounded like, if the band had somehow slipped the listener’s mind at any point in the band’s five years between studio albums.  Songs such as “Bewitched Forest” and “Curse of the Witch” show some of the things that Skyforger has been known for over the years, especially the more recent efforts, in which the band has incorporated more folk elements into their sound.  However, like any band that has had an extended period of time between albums though, it will take time for the listener to get into the album.   The length in which the listener gets re-acclimated with the album is debatable, though, as the songs lack a certain hook in which to get the listener’s attention.  Going through the album, the songs are there, and the music certainly is what one would expect from Skyforger, but there is something missing that one cannot put a finger on. 

In all of their albums, Skyforger has evolved from a pagan black metal band to a slightly more conventional pagan folk metal band.  Along the way, however, it seems that the band lost something in the transition.  Yes, the music is there, but it just lacks that something that would keep the listener’s attention and even warrant multiple plays.  Kurbads is not a bad album, but it isn’t the Earth-shattering album that I was hoping for, either.