BREAKING CHAINS - FENRISWULF ALBUM REVIEW

 BREAKING CHAINS - FENRISWULF ALBUM REVIEW

I haven’t done an exhaustive survey, but I’m still calling bullshit on that assertion that nearly all bands who are considered Viking metal claim to have Viking ancestry, or that claiming Viking ancestry is any kind of defining characteristic of the “genre”. While it’s probably fair to say that most bands considered to be “Viking metal” are from Scandinavia (Sweden, Denmark, Norway), I don’t think most of them “claim” Viking ancestry — and there are certainly bands thought of by at least some people as Viking metal who are from outside Scandinavia and have never claimed Viking ancestry as far as I know.  

It was developed in the 1980s through the mid-1990s as a rejection of Satanism and the occult, and instead embracing the Vikings and paganism as the leaders of opposition to Christianity.

  

Influenced by Nordic folk music, it is considered a category of folk metal, but it is a separate branch of that style, as there are notable differences.

Not all of VIKING Metal are from The Scandinavian continent.  

INTRODUCING VIKING METAL BAND from South Africa  

"FENRISWULF"

THEIR ALBUM BREAKING CHAINS has been a decisive album for sure as it will not appeal to black metal purists for its lengthy excursions completely out of the metal realms however for those interested in amazingly original experimental and progressive music then

FENRISWULF - BAND 

delivers all the goods on this one. The only pitfall with this debut album is the production and mixing job which are not horrible by any means but there are moments, most notably on the bass, but If you base your musical happiness on production then this will most likely disappoint but if you can forgive the inexperience and focus on the music itself then this one is completely satisfying on many levels. Steeped in Western classical undercurrents and decorated with ethnic flavors and black metal bombast,

BREAKING CHAINS, is quite the satisfying experience of experimental Viking /Pagan black metal emerging from one of the fastest growing Heavy Metal across all genre's but most unlikely regions of the planet in Blackened Fokelore/Viking metal which rarely sounds this sophisticated and FENRISWULF found a way to stand out from the very start.

Arries Naude            Bass

Wikus Kleynhans     Drums

Johan du Toit     Guitars(lead)

Renaldo Cilliers     Guitars(rhythm) Henco Chamberlain Vocals

ALBUM 

1. Intro 01:31       

2. Perseverance (A Wailling Heart

        and a Moonlit Sky) 05:13      

3. Heimdall's Gaze 04:07     

4. Breaking the Chains 03:48    

5. Skjaldborg (Shield Wall) 04:20  

6. Pagan Pride 04:55  

7. Wulves ov Odin 03:54  

8. The Day All God's Wept 05:37  

9. Hope and Despair 04:50  

10. Age of Steel (Alder av stal) 04:33   11. The Valkyries Prayer 02:50  

12. Valhalla Awaits 07:28