BROTHERS OF METAL Album Review: “Fimbulvinter”

BROTHERS OF METAL
“Fimbulvinter”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Brothers Of Metal are a heavy metal band from Sweden formed in 2012 releasing three albums to date – ‘Prophecy Of Ragnarok’ (2018), ‘Emblas Saga’ (2020), and ‘Fimbulvinter’ (2024)…

…featuring an incredible thirteen songs over an even more incredible wider array of variety than ever before! Now don’t get me wrong, the bands heavy hitting anthemic style of metal is still very much the main focus of the Swedish eight-piece, it’s just that balladry and err, um, rock make an appearance here! Yes readers, rock! More on that later when it rolls around, for right here right now, ‘Sowilo’ launches the album with an air of elegance, the rabble rousing call to arms nature of Brothers Of Metal burning brighter than a thousand suns! The anthemic intensity of ‘Sowilo’ is phenomenal, Brothers Of Metal turning heads and making listeners sit up to take notice of a band very much on top of their game.

And from the anthemic to all out pace in the blink of an eye, ‘Fimbulvinter’ storms on with ‘Flight Of The Ravens’, the band melding the thundering roar of power metal with the iconic traditional metal gallop! And not forgetting their own majestic twist either, ‘Flight Of The Ravens’ showcasing the bands multi vocalist approach and sensational bombastic flair – ‘Giantslayer’ more hustle and bustle in nature, yet nonetheless infectious or attractive, Brothers Of Metal pressing the pedal to the metal across the chorus break. A chorus break that ends with a “giantslayer” chant that every listener and concert goer is surely gonna pick up on and scream it out loud! The bands bombastic flair makes an emphatic return via ‘Heart Of Stone’, Brothers Of Metal pounding the ground so hard earthquakes are forming and buildings collapsing into ruins! I can feel the force from here – and I’m over fifteen hundred miles away!

The band go off-piste with ‘Rivers Of Gold’, landing firmly and squarely in ballad territory, every listener, fan and follower raising lighters high in the air to salute a very unexpected moment from the Swedish band. And if I’m honest here, ‘Rivers Of Gold’ oozes a feel of a summer camping trip sing a long, which happens to be a million miles away from the snow flurry Britain has just seen, everything I can see outside covered in a layer of the damn stuff! The bands rabble rousing nature takes front and centre as ‘Blood Red Sky’ actually maintains the previous songs mighty sing a long intensity, both songs oozing a huge Norse kinda folk metal feel that’s so fucking catchy I just can’t stop smiling, foot tapping and head nodding! You too I’ll bet – ‘Ratatosk’ entering the fray with an operatic elegance, switching identities around the minute mark to become a thundering rampage of all out heavy metal with immense head bang ability! Yet incredibly, the band retain the songs early elegance, ‘Ratatosk’ leaping, zig-zagging and climbing all over various metal genres!

And as the album passes midway, the bands energy and oomph remains sky high, as does the bombastic level, ‘Chasing Light’ bringing forth a little more heaviness than anything heard so far – Brothers Of Metal as intense as ever! ‘Fimbulvinter’ has been a “can’t stop listening to” experience since it began – an experience that goes further off-piste with ‘Heavy Metal Viking’. And I don’t mean just a short way off, try the fucking moon – ‘Heavy Metal Viking’ landing with a massive thud in rock territory! Yes readers – rock! The kinda rock swagger you get with Southern rock, blues rock, and party rock, Brothers Of Metal further outside their comfort zone than ever before, but it works! Very well! Returning to more familiar territory, ‘The Other Son Of Odin’ displays electrifying energy, powering on at pace, combining the bands heavy metal roots with the thundering roar of power metal. And this right here, is the bands signature sound as far as I’m concerned.

A signature sound that also boasts a strong anthemic edge, ‘Berserkir’ shuddering the ground with an almighty foot stomp as it gets underway, the band changing through the gears to roar off at pace – only to change down again, ‘Berserkir’ a pace changing gallop of hard hitting heavy metal variety. And for a third time Brothers Of Metal go off-piste, ‘Nanna’s Fate’ returning balladry to the fore – this time with a little more serenity than before, the band switching into power ballad mode to hit hard, and soft at exactly the same time! The variation on offer here is wider than either of the bands two previous albums, ‘Fimbulvinter’ coming to a close with the title song ‘Fimbulvinter’ – a thunder stomp mixed with a mighty anthemic feel, Brothers Of Metal are very much in their element for the albums final hurrah!

Overall, Brothers Of Metal deliver anthemic, power and traditional metal with an immense infectious level and a couple of surprise twists too.

TRACKLIST

Sowilo
Flight Of The Ravens
Giantslayer
Heart Of Stone
Rivers Of Gold
Blood Red Sky
Ratatosk
Chasing Light
Heavy Metal Viking
The Other Son Of Odin
Berserkir
Nanna’s Fate
Fimbulvinter

https://www.brothersofmetal.net
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