Sleipnir
Bloodbrothers 

Gardarika Musikk 2008

Neo-Norse anthems stream loud and clear from each note of the debut album from the UK's Sleipnir.  Bloodbrothers to me is somewhat of England's answer to Falkenbach.  Epic tunes that hail the glorious Viking deities and accomplishments thunder from my speakers as the album gets underway with the synth heavy intro Bloodbrothers Part 1.  Epic synth lines and soaring guitars are coupled with grim black metal vocals on Warriors Of Thor.  Though, they are grim, the vocals are often quite discernible and set up vast quantities of layered clear vocals which lend a majestic quality to the compositions.  Folkish guitars and clean choral vocals open Ancestral Blood.  These are followed by a nostalgic guitar melody.  Clear gang vocals boom after quick passages of black metal vocals for a "call and response" style of heathenish story telling on the song.  The lyrics occasionally sound a bit naive and simplistic on the songs but this also adds a certain charm to the songwriting.  The guitars begin with a fuzzed out approach that reminds me of Nordic black metal on Once We Were Kings.  This track has a slightly faster pacing than the previous songs and infuses the song with energy and urgency.  The triumphant chorus imbues the song with a sense of epic glory.  And I would say that all the songs have this quality in varying quantities.  If you long for metal where echoes of the viking gods majesty still reigns and stirring feelings of European pagan roots echo like distant thunder then Bloodbrothers will speak to your heathenish soul.  Listen to Sleipnir's music and I will see you in the halls of Valhalla!