Review: Metsat?ll “Hiiekoda” CD

Sadly I haven't had the time or the money to keep up with Estonia's impressive metal scene over the last few years, and while this isn't the best band I've heard from the country's diverse and intriguing metallic landscape, their brand of traditional metal accented by folk-ish instrumentation and vocal influences is actually fairly well executed, and like many other Estonian bands they're certainly pushing for something more artistic and original for themselves. Whereas many such bands with folk influences will lean more towards a blackened death metal style, that's not the case here at all. Most of the music is built on a base of traditional metal that utilizes midpaced power chords and prominent basslines with little hints of vaguely thrashy picking patterns and contemporary flare in the form of discordant chord phrasings and such; while the vocals are all delivered in Estonian and walk the line between speaking and singing. Of course this makes for a relatively dramatic vocal performance that's sure to rub some listeners the wrong way, and I must admit that I'd actually really like this more disc were the vocals a little stronger, but I can definitely handle his approach since it does sound sincere. And actually, most of the folk responsibilities fall solely on the vocal performance, as bagpipes are usually the only outside instrumentation utilized on tracks like "Saaremaa V?gimees", along with choral vocal accents, or behind the thrashy arrangements of the uniquely darker "Hundi Loomine" (which actually brings in some whispering passages as well as a few grunted yells for added variety). Worth mentioning at this point is that I'm not a fan of bagpipes, and in many cases they irritate me to no end, but I have to credit these guys with having made great use of the instrument, because I'm really not bothered at all, so that's great. Although, there are some stringed instrumentals such as the succinct "S?jahunt" that are definitely not employing guitars, and that does add a nice change of pace to the flow of the disc. I'd actually like to hear them work more of that stuff in against the metal, if possible. But they're doing a really good job with the metal riffs as well, because this stuff doesn't sound generic at all. Some of the harmonies definitely have a traditional sort of feel going on, but overall they're not drawing direct comparisons to anyone that I can think of, and there are a lot of curious chords and picking patterns that color the material nicely here (see "S?jahunt" and "Raiun Kui Rauda" especially). "Hundi S?da Sees" is faster and has some peppier dual guitar harmonies that really make it jump out from the pack with more energy to its arrangements, while by contrast "Kotkapojad" is slower and uses some unexpectedly sludgy chords against some sort of added instrumentation that I can't place - maybe accordion or something? "Merepojad" brings in some flute as well, but I think that's about it for nonstandard instruments. The title track tops seven minutes and takes another change, adding in some nice singing and jangly clean playing as well as some blasting percussion and discordant chords that do hint at some black metal, though this is about the only place in over an hour that you're gonna hear that style. The production could use some tweaking, but it's tolerable as is. It's pretty clear for the most part, and I think the bass tone is perfect for allowing the robust basslines enough definition to hold their own alongside the guitars, and the drums are pretty much in order as well. In fact, most everything is almost there, but I wouldn't mind it were the vocals mixed closer in with the music, and the distorted guitars could use a little more power - be it some added brightness or a little more crunch to the distortion. They don't really need to be heavier, they just need a little more volume to fill some of the gaps better and counterbalance some of the dominant vocal work. They've done a pretty good job, however. The illustrations used in the layout are a bit crude, but they actually make sense considering the subject matter at hand, and it looks very nice to have been printed on matte cream colored paper with no text on the front cover, so that's a solid touch. As mentioned all of the lyrics are in Estonian, so I can't offer any real insight there, but some of them look to read more like poetry at times, and the band states that they deliver tomes "in their own tongue and about their own culture", thus "celebrating the unique and peculiar Estonian culture, songs and stories". Track titles translate to things like "The Iron Oath", "The Song of an Estonian Cottar Upon a Tree Branch", "Flight of the Eagle", etc., so you can probably get an idea of what kind of stuff we're dealing with here. I definitely think the record's way too long, even if many of the 18 tracks are fairly short and there are aren't really any bad songs here, because they could easily shave off 15 minutes of material (I'd start with vocal-only interludes such as "Merimees Menneb Merele" and "Velekeseq Noor?k?s?q") and make for a much more concise and pointed listening experience highlighting their finest work, but other than that? They've done a good job here. I've never been a big fan of "folk metal" before, but let me tell you right now that this band absolutely demolishes shit like Cruachan, so if you like stuff like that you should check these guys out. You'll be ashamed that you ever touched that other crap. I really hope I get to listen to some more current Estonian metal sometime, because there are a lot of killer bands over there that are worth looking into and deserve a lot more attention. Actually, come to think of it, Metsat?ll might be the only "folk metal" band I've ever heard that I think has a lot of value to offer. I'd like to hear their future work to see where they take it.