#VAGABONDZREVIEW: FOLKRIM - ON FOAMING WAVES
- Oct 15, 2022
- 16 min read
What's up again!
Here I am to continue my story (review) about Finnish folk metal representatives Folkrim and their upcoming album On Foaming Waves that is set to be released on October 21.
You might know that I've already come through the wild and spirits-rising song called Crack A Cold One on the last day of summer. Never mind it's slushy and chilly outdoors, the rain never stops pouring and everything looking messy, I’m pretty sure Folkrim are able to get me back to the summer days filled with sunshine and light.
I think it’s time we shall start the real folk and funny journey with Folkrim and On Foaming Waves.
BIO
To begin with, I'm about to share some details about the band in case you missed my latest review.
Folkrim is a five man band from Rauma, the grim western coast of Finland. To keep the long winters at bay, inspired by beer and nature, we wound up combining metal music with traditional instruments. Originally a one-man project, Folkrim grew fast into a full band and we released 'Tales of Tumult', our self published album in the spring of 2021. A year later we've joined forces with Inverse Records and our second album, 'On Foaming Waves' is awaiting it's release in the fall of 2022. CD pre-order available on Inverse Store.
At the moment it feels like I'm on the cloud nine once again because I'm able to listen to the record NOW, much earlier than actual release.
The album called On Foaming Waves includes 14 songs. On the first sight, there are many of them and this review is going to be pretty long. As if I was ever writing them short (XD)... If make some predictions, I guess the record will have a great deal of party spirit, high-tempo riffs and piercingly sharp vocals as I heard in Crack A Cold One.
I'm in all ears to hear something joyful and radiant, just like Juhannus bonfire.
Blackout
There are many kinds of opening songs in modern metal. Some are instrumental, the other include background singing, whispers and choirs. Because of great difference in such songs, I either can or cannot get the entire impression of a band's music and influences. Thanks to Blackout, I can build the complete (almost) impression of music Folkrim write. In some cases, it's great not to introduce your tune for whole opening song with harmonic changes, rough tempo rushes and advanced solos but make a wild, moving and expressive song like Blackout. More is less in some situations and Folkrim proved it with their opening song. It's pure hurricane that becomes the first meeting with the band and their sound.
Greatly stuffed and overloaded with traditional instruments, the song immediately takes on. Why I like traditional instrument tunes is because they are able to make you stand up and jump (or even dance) ALREADY when album just slowly comes to life. It's unbelievable, how magnificently those instruments can operate metal music!
I must notice the powerful bridge introducing the heavier shades of the song - it could nicely widen the sound field to make the entering guitars truly massive and roughly tighten the sound. Besides the heavy riff introduced by the band’s guitar player, there also comes the lead part which is pretty simple, but still nicely complementing the idea showcased by rhythm guitar.
As the vocalist enters the game, I literary lost my thoughts as long as several associations have stricken my brain. Taking into account the vocalist's singing style, which includes a great deal of screaming vocals colored by so-called "harsh sharpness" makes me remember Petri Lindroos (Ensiferum). It's ridiculous, but if I hadn't known what band I was listening to, I would have thought of Ensiferum beyond any doubts. I guess, this sameness comes straight from the genre peculiarities, nothing more. Another association I catch is of course Alexi Laiho, who came to my mind with his powerful and sharp vocals taking the entire composition over and takes your breath away.
Speaking of music supporting vocals in verse - it's undoubtedly lively and recharging, and what's more, it genially incorporates a wealth of instruments - drums, bass, guitars and traditional instruments. According to my listening experience, I can only admire that rich and elements-wise mixture that truly kicks the whole sound! You know, there are cases when you feel the need of taking out an instrument from the song because it’s just getting on your nerves. Instead, Blackout has well-balanced instrumental support, greatly accompanying the vocals.
What makes me emotionally satisfied, is the chorus indeed! What's a holy f'n surge of adrenaline, I daresay! I should put into consideration that it's the preceding bridge that emphasized the mind-blowing effect of chorus. The outcome of such small elements can't be overestimated when it comes to music - every small feature matters. The smashing and controlled guitars are immensely supported by stable and thunderous drums.
A convincing feature, making the bright song truly luminous, is defining the lead guitar and making it sound a little bit separate on the foreground of sound field. Although, the melody wasn't developed to the skies, the circling pattern pointing out the thunderous drums makes the greater effect for the song to be moving and powerful.
As I was saying, I feel masses of Children of Bodom influence in Folkrim music and here you are - another testimony is backing vocals performed by choir. This feature enlightening on the background of sound field enormously widens the song. The instrumental track itself gets even more kicking and smashing and it makes think how did they make it so fast? It's only the opening track but it feels exhilaratingly wild party already now!
Another point to consider is the instrumental bridge that has become the logical extension for the main idea of Blackout. It's lively, incredibly lively. For me it feels like the never felt intention to dance a little bit... The domination is taken by traditional instruments making the bridge have more Finnishness in aspect of melodics.
On this stage, I can pick out two main influences for the band, it's Ensiferum and Children of Bodom. I'm not sure if my point coincides with Folkrim's but for me those two bands had the greatest influence on Blackout so far. It comes out in vocals style (that's almost identical to Petri Lindroos and Alexi Laiho) and backing vocals (choirs in the second verse). The entire composition sounds in accordance with Finnish folk metal band Korpiklaani, the same partying spirit, dancing intentions... and booze of course.
Unhinged Alchemist
The second song of the album extends the folk spirit with traditional instruments intro accompanied with acoustic guitar. To my mind, such intro is a right start for the band to add some new shades to their new album that would nicely compliment the prevailing idea.
What a damn exciting blow up! Surprisingly, calm and peaceful intro of Unhinged Alchemist results in truly exploding way. I daresay, I start to like this album more and more with every element arriving. This main riff is precisely made for insane moshpits loads of people will take part in. Such fast and tearing riff is concentating all powers inside and then abruptly let them off with damn fire burning...
As the main riff started, I immediately catch the vibe from Ensiferum's Run From The Crushing Tide released in 2020. The song keeps the same enormous amount of energy and it's so nice to notice such impacts of Finnish bands. And then with the verse coming, I mark some familiar Korpiklaani vibes. All folk and metal concentrated in this record together! Although the vocals are absorbed, they are nicely keeping the idea of the song tuning to the pitch of the leading melody adding some "drunken" spirit that suits the song very well.
What comes with another surprise is the additional (clean) vocals joining the game. The same element is inherent to Ensiferum as well, and I feel more and more similarities between those two bands. With those vocals coming I instantly caught the 80s pop rock music vibes, there're so many of them. And feels like this element greatly matches Folkrim.
The feature I hear now is mind-boggling. What? Disco vibes to folk metal? That's something I've never heard before! It feels like folk, country style is wildly mixed up with modernity. Undoubtedly, music makers tend to add disco elements to the particular part of the song by the fact of it's inherent to the genres like alternative metal, metalcore, nu metal and of course electronic rock/metal. But folk metal... Need to admit that the feature implied is curious and catchy by reason of sound field widens and captures every part of your soul.
Gleaming and piercing guitar solo followed by the last chorus is the perfect culmination for such flexible and hot song, bringing the wild amounts of joy with every listening. Rarely meet I such energy booster that would take off with the speed of light to make the album beginning unquestionably remarkable and ear-catchy.
On Foaming Waves
The title song of the album must be as enormously booming as On Foaming Waves have been. Once you hear this banger, you'll never forget it. It's desirable for the title song to represent the main idea of the entire record to showcase all sorts of variable elements it features and in my opinion, Folkrim perfectly managed it with On Foaming Waves.
On Foaming Waves is a good, illustrative example of title song. The most important thing is the demonstration of prevailing folk features of the album being the hell driver of the record. What especially strikes the ear is guitars being the extremely powerful basement for orchestrals. As the main riff enters, the screams empowers that with massive and concentrating feature pointing out both melodic and heavy sides of the song.
When vocals enter, I immediately catch some curious and grabbing elements. As for me, this type of vocals is closely connected with fairy tale; something magical, ear-catchy and thrilling. The features adding up to this atmosphere is undoubtedly traditional instruments that underline the vocalist singing manner within the song.
The instrumental bridge followed the chorus is something that makes this song special by adding power metal elements for the listener to fully dive into the music and let it drive your soul. Such moments are vital for a high quality record and demand for such ones will be growing as to attract a listener on some summer festival. To headbang, to get crazy and take part in moshpits - it's all about On Foaming Waves that was definitely made for a remarkable live show.
Right after that instrumental break, the vocals are getting back to the game and, what I find essential feature for On Foaming Waves as a folk metal album, the interplay of two vocal tracks are making it sound very folk and incredibly close to the listener.
No matter how much you'll be listening to this song, every time will be special and you'll be more and more captured by the everlasting energy it keeps.
Crack A Cold One
As I was saying, I’ve already reviewed Crack A Cold One back to the summer. Here, I’m going to share some important points on this song.
Crack a Cold One is kicking, hella fast, lively and awe-inspiring. To boost and enhance the effect of those upcoming vibes, a nice solution could be implying peaceful and serene intro performed by acoustic guitar. And of course, from the very outbreak of the song I can feel the huge folk influence which is worked out in traditional instruments appearance. Already the first breath of Crack a Cold One made me truly amazed and amused by its mind-blowing energy taking over and over.
Now I would like to mention possibly the most considered solution provided by Folkrim during the songwriting of Crack a Cold One. Namely this element and the way Folkrim introduced it made me feel truly impressed. I should start with the bridge joining verse and chorus that was undoubtedly heavy and powerful; in other words, it was undoubtedly great element to imply. However, on that stage of the song I didn't feel the complete energy a chorus can bring. As it appears, Folkrim hasn't missed a thing...
Towards the Sun
What an intro, honestly!.. I thought for a while, what music am I listening to? Could it be some 70s band? Now I’m seriously thinking of Chuck Berry music…
Unexpectedly, old good Folkrim are back with super speedy entering riff. Undoubtedly, the speed of the guitar riff is wild, although the fast tempo is compensated by traditional elements that play slower. In combination with guitar riff, it makes a real explosion.
The vocals remain sharp and relentless in accordance with the spirit of a song. The choir backing vocals are nicely compensating the enormous speed of drum track. Towards The Sun is another song implying damn kicking bridge with power metal elements. Again, it's damn good for a live show. And of course, blasting instrumental bridge is something able to make me headbang when writing this sentence.
As a guitar player, I always put in accent a guitar solo and this one is hella FASHINATING. The guitar solo features in Toward the Sun is enlivening, making the blood running through your veins and get the surge of adrenaline that is needed for everyday routine. What I find absorbing is the showcase of shred elements that widen the entire sound of the album, making it more definite and proving the high-level skills of guitar player.
Entwined!
At first sight, the beginning seems a bit rapid and messy as long as some voices appear almost simultaneously and way too surprisingly. And oh yeah, those two magical Finnish words “vittu” and “saatana” add up to folk atmosphere of Entwined! making it authentically Finnish. So far, it’s been the most folk song of On Foaming Waves. Only then have I understood what empowering effect they make to the song.
In my point of view, the pattern sounds like that – the first thing you add something unpredicted to the beginning of the song to grab listener’s attention and then you start to make the song erupt, just like volcano. The unhurried instrumental into works like a teaser – starting with intriguing orchestrations fading in and then the thunderous guitar supports the coming ejection… then the song finally erupts with fast and living guitar riff greatly complimented with traditional instruments and orchestration on the background.
I find the atmosphere of Entwined! a little bit different from the earlier song I’ve heard. The great example to prove this statement it is the second part of verse, that holds intriguing spirit which makes the song addictive and riveting.
Everything is truly captivating and catchy in this song starting from drum track ending vocals. Undoubtedly, every element featured makes this song bursting. What I find especially fascinating and attention-grabbing is the combination of screaming vocals and traditional instruments on the background. Namely this feature makes the song stand out of the album, in my point of view.
In my opinion, Entwined! is rather grown-up and solid song of On Foaming Waves. The idea is catchy and driving, especially when it comes to instrumentals in verse. It’s expressive and catchy as if preparing for a blow-up coming afterwards. The instrumental idea smoothly joins the parts of a song keeping the balance between screaming vocals and rough guitars. I should also take into account the power and broadness that are created by instrumentals and choir backing vocals performed by the band.
One More for the Road
At this stage, One More for the Road is the first step back out of the album topic. I didn’t expect for the calmer songs to have started that soon, but it’s amazing to have put in accent some calmer tunes after the wild hurricane of previous ones.
One More for the Road is folk, catchy and covering with serenity. With clean vocals and pure enjoyment it brings, I would definitely like to hear this song performed live. When I expressed a belief of broadening horizons of the album, this song is exactly what I meant. It brings home-like cozy atmosphere as if the band had having a show in your living room.
Some words about vocals. They appear to be deep and mighty and the first association coming to my mind is Jyrki 69 who has another band called The 69 Cats what is deeply about old-school music and rockabilly stuff. As for me, One More for the Road have such influence.
Midsummer Mead
Ballad-like intro… The second calm song in a row? This one seems to have more melancholy shades while… Folkrim are back with their rough and mighty sound.
The main difference of Midsummer Mead is the appearance of growls. Before the elements of growls appeared in Entwined! and now they finally take advantage to demonstrate a stand out feature for Folkrim music. As for me, it’s a great that the band decided to work on to develop their sound.
As the growls appeared, the instrumental part has definitely become heavier what empowers the entire song. The growls are something that makes the sound bigger, more massive and heavier comparing to the beginning of the album. When the first half was about Ensiferum-like vibrant songs, powered by mind-blowingly fast guitar riffs, sharp vocals and speedy beats, the second half started newly. If being in all ears with the verse part, you’ll immediately feel even death metal influence.
Closer to end of Midsummer Mead, there’s another curious feature I caught. Low vocals, aspiration mixed with whispering while the music has fade out… That all makes me think of Insomnium and their vocalist Niilo Sevänen who’s recognized for his singing style. It’s the showcase of calmness and melancholy in the music and I find this element truly catchy.
Brace Yourselves
Brace Yourselves has only lasted for 36 seconds… That’s an interesting experiment. Carrying out such ones help the entire album become special and distinct. Speedy beats have returned! And so did sharp vocals.
Röverehumppa
The first tunes of the song have strongly reminded me of Nightwish who’s great at putting the folk elements to their music. It’s unbelievably massive and catchy both with instrumentals and vocals.
If “hummpa” thing figures in a song, that would be great one by means. Comparing to the rest of the songs, tempo has significantly slowed down in comparison to the beginning of the album.
Despite the fact the song has chorus in Swedish, it has true Finnish spirit. It’s showcased in fast lead guitar bridge that points out the melodics. Chorus in Swedish makes me remember Sabaton and their Swedish version of Carolus Rex that I truly adore. Röverehumppa has much in common by means of power and mightiness and I think Swedish language makes the chorus incredibly thunderous.
Under the Black
What an interesting and riveting beginning Under the Black has! The main attention is undoubtedly paid to fairy tale-like vocals that is the great way to grab a listener’s attention.
Need to mention that Under the Black is airy and powerful thanks to mighty vocals. What’s more, the guitar solo is truly catchy and light bringing.
Winterstorm
Summer vibes were dominating in earlier songs of On Foaming Waves. Midsummer topics, booze and partying take a break with Winterstorm opening the gates for winter magic. The sound of traditional instruments is light and calm as snowflakes slowly whirling in the air and catching the ground. The melody reminds me of How’s the Heart of Nightwish; it brings so much joy and serenity symbolizing the arrival of Christmas time.
The unplugged part is the nice addition to the peaceful intro but it rapidly changes to kicking and blasting Folkrim tune. In my opinion, it would be nice to make this song special and slow it down to suit the intro melody. The change from peace to enlivening tunes is to sharp, but I guess Folkrim decided to keep the album spirit in every song featured on the record.
When intro melody hits again, I can’t help enjoying it once more. Now it’s one of my favorites from Folkrim. It’s true winterstorm…
The bridge after the second chorus nicely supports the main idea of the song and what’s more, the peaceful bridge was nice addition to melodics.
Drunken Song
The peaceful intro has greatly joined Winterstorm to this one. The intro keeps the spirit of Winterstorm. And again, I hear Insomnium influence as the vocals enter. I guess, the summer has ended for this album and the long and cozy winter has arrived.
I’m really bewitched by the intro melody repeat, just same spirit as Winterstorm brought. The clean vocals are greatly suit the tunes featured on this song.
Choir vocals are back for now. They aren’t sharp anymore bringing nothing but joy. They definitely have Sabaton spirit, sung in same manner Sabaton usually do.
A Falling Tide
The last song on the record. Unexpectedly, the sorrowful vibes started dominating… The melody is incredibly catchy and nice. Traditional instruments usage is paid off, because they add incredible atmosphere to this calm and peaceful song…
Honestly, such end for the kicking and blasting album is something I could never think of when listening to A Falling Tide… Moreover, it seems the band decided to make this song instrumental only. In the beginning of review, I expressed my thoughts on long instrumental opening songs, but closing instrumental songs is something I don’t hear often. But must say, I find this element broadening for Folkrim music as they decided to grab the listner’s attention until the last song of the album. Silent mumbling is the only voice element featured and I guess, it symbolized the morning after a great and big party…
The song turned out to be long… what a funny tune appears! This is really drunk song as the vocals are a bit illegible and the instrumental part nicely points out this mood. I think A Falling Tide should have been named Drunken Song instead.
About the Entire Record
I've listen to tons of albums recently. Considering my experience, I've faced a tendency of prolonging the opening song's intro in order to grab listener's attention with high-level melodies, advanced solos and riffs. Rarely, very rarely do I meet a basic and killing song that would be the perfect beginning for the album. Believe me that overthinking is not always do its thing, especially when writing music. Instead, Folkrim presented incredible half-instrumental closing track for On Foaming Waves titled A Falling Tide.
What I especially like is the arrangements written by the band. It usually takes me much time to remember a song and some special moments about it, but when it comes to Folkrim - everything goes so smooth. Their ideas are really easy to catch and understand and I'm sure constant Finnish party spirit helps to ride on a wave of it.
The entire On Foaming Waves album is enriched with elements – a great deal of instrumentals is guaranteed. The main instruments driving the spirit of the album is undoubtedly traditional ones and orchestrations widening the sound. The sound of the album is made in original, genuine and always working melodeath-folk style I incredibly adore. Traditional instruments enlivening the rough and powerful melodic death metal with party spirit will always remain my favorite element in music. Speaking of my favorite lower range intruments, that’s my top priority, that part was played and recorded in the best possible ways. Everything sounds professional, state-of-the-art and genuine for Folkrim.
The thing to point out is that every record has even a small drawback. As for Folkrim, I can hardly name any, besides, maybe a great similarity with Ensiferum. To my mind, On Foaming Waves sounds like a logical extension for Thalassic album released by Ensiferum in 2020. A point to consider, if I’d heard Entwined! somewhere on the radio for instance, I’d have been sure I’m listening to some Ensiferum song because of great subgenre similarity between Folkrim and Ensiferum. Nevertheless, there’s a strong point that makes a great advantage for Folkrim – their incredible guitar solos. While Ensiferum put an accent on their riff melodies, Folkrim are fishing for advanced ideas for the solo including shred elements. In my opinion, Folkrim solos bring a fresh breath to On Foaming Waves tracks and make them stand out of the other folk-metal bands.
While listening to the album, I found out that the tendency of broadening horizons for Folkrim is to put the new elements to the intro of a song. I’ve met 70s-influnced intro that reminded me of Chuck Berry music (Towards The Sun), unplugged intros (A Falling Tide, One More For The Road…), voice dominated intros (Entwined!) and many others that include curious and attention-grabbing elements. It appears, the main idea of Folkrim is to catch the listener straightly from the first seconds of the song. I can’t remember such variety of intros for one album only despite the fact it’s pretty long and massive one. It’s something new regarding my experience.
A word to be said about impacts. I’ve mentioned many bands I feel impact of. It comes to Ensiferum, Korpiklaani as representatives of folk metal, Children Of Bodom as death/melodeath metal (mostly the influence is showcased in vocals style); Insomnium, with their dominating gloomy and melancholic vibes. Moreover, all over the record I felt power metal influence and mainly Sabaton. The bright example of their influence lies in choir vocals closer to the end of the album. Moreover, I’ve heard some of Nightwish vibes, a good example is Winterstorm.
It’s interesting, that One More on the Road has become a turning point for the album to gain more individuality and add more of new elements to the record. So, my message to Folkrim is to keep their amazing STAND OUT journey they have already started.
Thanks you for reading this long review guys! I hope you did enjoy it. I’d like to thank Inverse Records for the ability to listen to the album beforehand and Folkrim for their incredible work on the new record. Don’t miss the official release on October 21!
Line-up:
Erno Helander - Vocals/orchestral production/ukulele/banjo/mandolin Iiro Sarman - Electric guitars Otto Hyvärinen - Acoustic guitars Viktor Suominen - Bass guitar Eetu Ritakorpi - Drums/backup vocals
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