RUDRA

 Album Reviews  28 Responses »
Mar 112011
 

Let’s get right to the point: The new album from Singapore’s Rudra is brilliant. From beginning to end, it’s one of the most engaging works of metal we’ve heard this year.

In the ancient Indian collection of Sanskrit hymns known as the Rigveda, Rudra is referred to as a god associated with wind, storm, and lightening. Rudra was also known as the archer and is associated with the hunt and with terrible power.

As noted, Rudra is also the name of a metal band from Singapore who released their first demo way back in 1994 and their debut album in 1998. Five more studio releases have followed, with the last two forming the first installments of a trilogy called Brahmavidya: 2005’s Primordial I and 2009’s Transcendental I. The trilogy is now complete with Rudra’s release on March 3 of Immortal I.

We will come to how these three albums tie together conceptually, but we’ll focus first on the music, as we hear it, on Immortal I. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

MORE 2011 SICKNESS (PART 3)

 Forthcoming Albums  14 Responses »
Feb 272011
 


We’re jumping the gun on this post, since the month doesn’t end until tomorrow. Why? Uh, because this post is ready to go and we don’t have anything else finished for today yet. Work and other shit interfered with our grand plans for a Sunday post.  We might still get another one up later today, but for now, feast your eyes on the barrage of metal headed our direction.

What we do with these installments of METAL IN THE FORGE is collect news blurbs and press releases we’ve seen over the last 30 days (or in this case, the last 27 days) about forthcoming new albums from bands we know and like (including updates about releases we’ve included in previous installments of this series), or from bands that look interesting, even though we don’t know them yet. And in this post, we cut and paste the announcements and compile them in alphabetical order.

This isn’t a cumulative list, so be sure to check the Category link called “Forthcoming New Albums” on the right side of this page to see forecasted releases we reported in previous installments. This month’s list begins right after the jump. Look for your favorite bands, or get intrigued about some new ones. There’s some awesome shit on the way. Continue reading »

MYTHIC METAL: EAST MEETS WEST

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Feb 122011
 

While scanning through Blabbermouth yesterday, I came across items about two bands who are from very different cultures but who both find musical inspiration in myths: Finland’s Crimfall and Singapore’s Rudra. Both bands have new albums on the way, and I thought they’d make an interesting compare-and-contrast feature. So, here we go:

CRIMFALL

Finland’s Crimfall falls into the category of Northern European folk metal, and in particular, a style that uses contrasting vocals — here, Helena Haaparanta‘s clean soprano, which is one source of the music’s folk sound, and Mikko Häkkinen‘s icy black-metal rasp. The band released a debut album in 2009 called As the Path Unfolds . . . as a three-piece unit (those two vocalists plus band-founder Jakke Viitala), with help from session musicians.

Since then, the band has filled out with the addition of a permanent drummer (Janne Jukarainen) and bassist (Miska Sipiläinen), and I remember seeing a performance video by the full band of a song from the debut sometime last year. Crimfall have now completed a second album (The Writ of Sword) due for a March 23 release on Spineform Records.

What drew my attention to the news about the next release was the line-up of guests who appear on the album — Tapio Wilska (Survivors Zero), Ville Sorvali (Moonsorrow), Mathias “Vreth” Lillmåns (Finntroll), Mathias Nygård and Olli Vänskä from Turisas, and Trollhorn (Finntroll, Moonsorrow). Pretty attention-grabbing list, huh?  Also, it was mastered by Sweden’s masterful Jens Bogren (Opeth, Spoilwork, Katatonia, Bloodbath, and many others).  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

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