Battlesoul

I'm not usually a fan of this sort of folk metal, but Battlesoul are much better than Obtest and kin. I don't understand why exactly, maybe because they write better melodies and have a production job which emphasizes those melodies, maybe because they use a lot of nice soloing, or maybe it's because the vocalist isn't an attention whore and sounds like part of the band. Whatever it is, they're certainly better than the rest of their competitors.

Battlesoul don't play the sort of folk metal that I normally enjoy (Isengard, Storm, Bloodaxe), but instead play the more power metal influenced style that bands like Turisas and Ensiferum, but are generally just more enjoyable than those bands. Don't get me wrong, this is still very accesible and not without it's cheese...it's more Conan the Destroyer than it is Conan the Barbarian, but it actually manages to BE fun, rather than just try to be fun and come off as annoying as most of these campfire bands do.

Actually, there are many moments on this EP that remind me more of 'Slaughter of the Soul' than anything else. They tend to alternate between those faster, driving Gothenburg style sections and more mid-paced, up tempo Ensiferum type moments. The guitars take dominance and play some cool, catchy melodies throughout. Occasionally an accordian breaks in and plays a similiar melody to the guitars. Vocals alternate between typical rasps and clean 'battle metal vocals, and the rhythm section is fairly tight without really being significant.

This is only really recommended to people into the battle metal style, or for people that thing that the whole scene is trite - this should hopefully prove to you that some bands can do a decent job of it.