What do we hear in the distance? A war horn through winter and mist! Varang Nord attacks and the world knows the fury of the warriors from the Baltic heaths. “May God protect us from the fury of the Northmen“. I tell myself: “May this howling wave come to imbued us with an epic savagery”.
After some years of absence, Varang Nord is back in force with this new LP sung in the old regional dialect of Eastern Latvia: Latgalian. Four long years separate the release of “Call of Battle” to this album with an unpronounceable name: “Pärkunia Uomurs“. The winners of the 2019 Wacken Battles come back to us with an usual album duration time for a band that plans to spread their music worldwide.
For a neophyte, the presence of the accordion is not necessarily the best approach to discover the universe of the band, however the music very quickly takes over and the instrument fits perfectly into this musical landscape.
The dantesque imagination of visions of rampaging hordes plundering and ruining everything in its path then takes precedence over the understanding of the lyrics.
Oscillating between folk and metal, at the borders of Slavic, Scandinavian and Germanic influences, Varang Nord distils a punchy music, with heady and catchy melodies. Compared to the previous material, the compositions are stronger, more accomplished and neat both in the placement of each instrument and on the chosen melodic lines. The orchestration, the arrangements do not escape to this general trend as well. The flagship songs of this album are (for me) “Pärkunia Uomurs” and “Svietneica”.
Thus, an entry into maturity with this album? We wish them. May they confirm this excellent impression left by it and come back to us without waiting four more years.
Release date: February 23rd, 2021
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