KING OF ASGARD - Fi'mbulvintr

\r\nIt’s really unbelievable how some albums can carry you away, reminding you of days long gone using just a familiar melody or a single guitar riff. When I first listened to “Fi’mbulvintr”, the debut album of the Swedish King of Asgard the music brought my school days back to my mind, when I was listening to Mithotyn’s glorious release “King Of The Distant Forest” over and over again in my old walkman, pretty strange, I thought since King Of Asgard are a newly established band but when I did a little research on the net I found out that they are actually the mighty Mithotyn!!
\r\nSo, concerning the lineup we have Mithotyn’s Karl Beckmann on the guitars and vocals, also Mithoty’s Karsten Larsson (also founding member of Falconer) on the drums while the bass is taken over by Jonas Albrektsson of Thy Primordial. So what we have here is in fact a super group and though for the fans of the above bands and generally the fans of the epic Viking metal this review should end right here, I’m gonna take it a little further cause there still are some “non-initiated” among us.
\r\nKing Of Asgard are delivering chilling Viking Metal influenced, as expected, by the above mentioned bands while to some of you, younger in age, might remind you of Amon Amarth, Ensiferum and even Enslaved but with a more Black metal approach since the blastbeats tend to be the main part of the drumming.
\r\nEvery song of “Fi’mbulvintr” is in a way followed by the other something that makes the album sounding integral and solid just like a horde of bloodthirsty Vikings descending upon the enemy. The riffing sounds sharp like the sight of a thousand swords ready to feast on blood and gore while Karl Beckmann’s raw voice is shouting the attack and the slaughter begins! All the compositions are great and I could hardly pick τα “Einhärjar”, “The Last Journey” (with the amazing female vocals on the intro), “Wrath Of The Gods”, “Brethren Of The North”, “Heroes’ Brigade”…well, if fact all of them!!
\r\nAs a whole “Fi’mbulvintr” is an awesome debut from all aspects, from Andy LaRocque’s excellent production to the fantastic cover artwork with the howling wolf prevailing. I can’t think of something more appropriate for the upcoming winter, can you?\r\n

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\r\nDimitris Karantounias\r\n

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