Promising Effort
Revelation 23 | 11/27/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Kivimetsän Druidi's Century Media debut offers up a blend of Finnish folk metal and symphonic metal, with a bit of black metal thrown in for some added flavor. The music is complemented by beauty and beast vocals, something which is somewhat foreign to the folk metal "genre". Kivimetsän Druidi ("Druid of the Stone Forest") have gained a respectable following online and while touring throughout Europe with fellow Finnish bands Korpiklaani and Battelore since forming in 2002.
With lyrics based upon a fantasy novel being written by bassist/vocalist Jani Koskinen, Shadowheart is a mix of old and new, having re-recorded six songs featured on three prior releases. While most of their material is in Finnish, some of the songs are English, which is nice if you don't speak the language. Even though I can't understand any of the Finnish stuff, it doesn't sound odd to me. However, I must admit that may be due to hearing a fair amount of Finnish in my life as it was spoken by my grandmother, some other relatives and their friends.
A classically trained singer, Leeni-Maria Hovila's operatic vocals don't seem to be a perfect match for the music at all times, but this is not something exclusive to Kivimetsän Druidi. She does back off from the full range of her voice at times, and this is when her role in the band is at its best. On the other side is bassist and co-founder Jani Koskinen, whose vocals are more like what you may be accustomed to if you've listened to folk metal before - a raspy growl that is somewhere between clean singing and the gutteral, often undecipherable grunts and roars of death metal.
The music is what you might expect from a folk metal band, with hints of other styles that make their way into the songs. At times, Moonsorrow's influence is evident, although there's nothing that sounded as epic as Kivimetsän Druidi's inspiration. It's there, but it hasn't had a chance to come out just yet.
Highlights:
Blacksmith
The Tyrant
Jaassa Varttunut (Grown Up Within Ice)
Pedon Loitsu (The Spell of the Beast)
Mustan Valtikan Aika (The Era of the Black Scepter)
Shadowheart is an above average effort that does show a lot of promise. If a follow-up album can be made without recycling earlier songs (or at least, not half the album!), KmD should have no problem.
Listen to the samples carefully and wander over to their myspace profile to see if this is something you'll like. They might not be for every fan of folk metal, but if you're looking for something a bit different, give them a chance."
A rock solid heavy metal band worth checking out
E. Anderson | 03/08/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I recently discovered Kivimetsan Druidi on the social networking website Myspace. I had received a friends request from the band. After hearing samples of their music, I decided to check out their music as a whole and bought their album SHADOWHEART. Kivimetsan Druidi's sound is a mix of celtic, folk, and black metal. I have to admit the music didn't really hit me right away. I wasn't really keen (and still not) on the gutteral vocals from co-vocalist/guitarist Joni. What makes the album worth listening I think is Leeni-Maria's powerful operatic vocals. Her vocals are eerily similar to ex-Nightwish Tarja Turunen. I really don't hear that in a lot of female singers in the metal genre but Leeni-Maria's the only female singer whose vocals are quite similar to Tarja's. Despite my dislike for Joni's typical, gutteral vocals, SHADOWHEART is a rock solid heavy metal album. After getting past that horrible first track "Northwind - Prelude" (my least favorite track), the songs take on more melodies and Leeni-Maria's vocals become a more prominent force to reckon which made the album more enjoyable for me. The musicianship of Antti (keyboards), Rinksa (lead guitar), Simo (bass), and Atte (drums) is top notch. Everyone works well together without overwhelming the other band member's function. Asides from disliking the first track, the rest of the album is good. I would have liked to hear a bit more melody in the music but otherwise I certainly would recommend buying this album for any heavy metal fan."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1