Batavi

In all honesty, Heidevolk are a great folk metal band. Don't know if it's due to the fact that they play a very guitar-driven version of it, their duo-vocal assault, or simply because the music is catchy while retaining the primal pagan fury, but Heidevolk managed to completely rule with their first three albums. I still listen to "Uit Oude Grond" at least once a week and their debut has one of the most memorable drinking songs in the world (the song is Het Bier Zal Weer Vloeien). Heidevolk are unique, of that there is no doubt.

Now come 2012 and the band unleashes their fourth studio effort on us called Batavi. Immediately as you start the first track, you realize something's wrong here. Guitars are fucking too massive for a Heidevolk album, which implies crystal clear production. It's too well produced for a folk metal album. It's not the heaviness that's the problem as Heidevolk always had a lot of guitars (I already mentioned they had very guitar-driven songs) in their sound, however this is just too much. Think Dimmu's Stormblast remake. No identity, no rawness, just overpolished guitars. So, the opener starts, and it plods, and it passes. No movement at all. Think about their previous openers: Saksenland, Nehalennia, and Krijgsvolk. Those were damn good songs, simply for the fact that the hook started from the first riff. Here it doesn't. "Een Nieuw Begin“ is not gripping; it has no hooks, and by the time it ended I recall nothing about it, which actually leads to the biggest problem about this album. There is no folk in it. Or, maybe I overreacted. There is some very, very scarce folk in this, but you will just have to dig so deeply you'll end up in your own ass.

Now for the non-exaggerated analysis, folk doesn't begin until you have reached sixth track, "Veleda“, unless you count the beginning of "Wapenbroeders“, it has that little and short violin line that will repeat itself a few more times throughout the song. Speaking of "Veleda“, it's a totally pointless and unnecessary track. It's this album's Dagenraad. Just a short instrumental driven by acoustics and violin. Isn't this supposed to be a folk metal album? There are some more folkish moments on the next two tracks, and the last track is again devoid of any folk. Seriously, the folksiest part of this album comes in the shape of Joris' and Mark's singing, which has always been a part of this band's sound, it's just that Heidevolk can't rely solely on dual singing to hold the album together as a folk metal album. Metal is primarily the music, right? "Als de dood...“ is again very heavy right from the start with a shining gallop rhythm, but the riff is totally faceless, unfitting, and again, it's lame.

Is there anything saving the album? Yes, as much as the over-brought guitars and shitty production ruins the album, I must say there are actually some decent guitar solos, and some of them are the best Heidevolk has done so far. The immediate example would be the one in "In Het Woud Gezworen“, you WILL bang your head to it. "Wapenbroeders“ has some nice leads and great double bass drumming as well as a very good breakdown halfway into the song.

It would be very unfair to say that they should record another "Walhalla Wacht“, but maybe that's just what they should do. This is not totally devoid of good music, it's just that it doesn't really feel like a Heidevolk album and much less like a folk metal album. A few folksy moments does not do the trick. Heidevolk can do much, much better than this. Not recommended.