Band: Fejd
Title: Storm
Label: Napalm Records
Distribution: Rough Trade Benelux
Release date: 27/03/2009
Review: CD

The Austrian label Napalm Records is one of the leading labels when it comes to Folk-oriented Metal. Throughout the years, the Napalm-catalogue grew through (interesting) names such as Tyr, Falkenbach, Svartsot, Kampfar, Heidevolk, Asmegin, Siegfried or Korpiklaani, to name but a few.
Because of their interest in both Folk music and (Heavy) Metal, the brothers Patrik and Niklas Rimmerfors started the band Fejd in 2001, along with some ex-Pathos-members. Last year, the formation signed to that label above, and soon the debut full length studio album will be released (or had just been released). This album, simply called Storm, lasts for an hour and fits perfect to the Folk-oriented Napalm-rooster. More specific, Fejd bring semi-acoustic Nordic (Medieval) Folk Metal with elements from neo-Folk, Rock and traditional elements. Besides the ‘normal’ instruments (guitars, bass, drums and keyboards, along with clean male and female vocals), Fejd make use of traditional instruments, like mouth harp, bagpipe, horn and bouzouki (!) (very Scandinavian indeed???). Several parts are acoustic, and only sporadically the band gets ‘heavier’ and more ‘Metal’ than, let’s say, Tyr or Asmegin. And even though Fejd’s music is comparable to bands / projects as Tyr, Korpiklaani, Storm (with members of The Third And The Mortal, Satyricon and Darkthrone), Tumulus and so on (even Bathory’s Viking-period seems to have been of influence from time to time), this formation certainly does not reach the high level of those names, unfortunately. Not bad, not world-shocking either…

71/100

Ivan Tibos.