Metal Message - V Reviewed by Jan F. Lindsø in 7/13/2009 It's not that often I receive releases that contains this much dedication and passion. This is the fifth release that German Markus Eck of Metal Message have released containing the finest acts of the pagan-, viking- and folk-metal. "Metal Message V" is released in an A5 DVD cover format, and contains a A5 booklet containing the finest of nature photographs and the cover-artwork by the well-known Ed Repka. It is pretty obvious that Metal Message have spent a lot of time and effort on selecting artwork and visuals for this release. The same goes with the music. "Metal Message V" contains 13 handpicked tracks, and it definitely contains a lot of promising bands. Some of them is probably a bit melodic and "happy" for my taste, but I wouldn't expect to like everything on a sample like this either. In my opinion, the most interesting pagan acts nowadays is located in the eastern parts of Europe. Therefore it's not a big surprise for me that one of the most interesting acts on this release is Hromovlad from Slovakia. Their accent is perfect for this kind of music. Hopefully more Eastern European bands will be presented in "Metal Message VI"? I also enjoyed the Canadian band Dark Forest, which probably is the band on this record that has most black metal influences in their music. All in all, "Metal Message V" is a strong sampler that is a true piece of quality. As this is a sampler of several artists, it would be almost impossible to reach the highest level of perfection. But if you're into pagan-, viking- or folk-metal, this is pretty close to it!

Rating: 8/10 Website: http://www.metalmessage.de/ 01 Fimbulvet - Helias Bann 02 Hromovlad - Slava 03 Tumulus - Kochevonov Plyas 04 Dark Forest - Journey To Ever-Eternal Skies 05 Tiwaz - The Battlelore 06 Dyrathor - Im Auge des Sturms 07 Xerión - No Pazo Derruido Da Existencia 08 Adorned Brood - Sons Of The Damned 09 Waylander - As Deities Clash 10 Natan - Volkskracht 11 Andras - Miasma Track 12 Obscurity - Nach Asgard wir reiten 13 Vinternatt - De Zwarte Mis More related on BTB: