Shield Brothers of Valhalla

Hildr Valkyrie is a Viking themed and inspired synth laden "metal" band consisting mainly on highlighting and focusing on the vocal melodies of Hildr Valkyrie or Queen of Iris or whatever the hell her name is. This entire album is a pure attempt at creating some sort of symphonic, epic, grandiose, any other number of adjectives brand of pseudo metal. This really isn't "metal" per se, it's very symphonic and has little guitar work that I can distinctly notice as well as any rhythm other than the light drum patterns of the simplest beat that I could learn in 30 minutes.

Shield Brothers of Valhalla starts with an Intro that sets the mood for the rest of the album, which is basically the exact same thing over again except at unbearable lengths. When I first heard this album, I loved it and really enjoyed the atmosphere, almost melancholic and tranquil; and Hildr Valkyrie really does have an enjoyable voice. The melodies and backing harmonies and everything here is well done and professional, this took quite some time to hone to what it is I'm sure. There is much to be found, symphonic elements plenty with backing vocals and backing harmonizing everywhere. It's almost a choral symphony or something. There is no way to differentiate the songs from one another, basically all sounding the same with similar patterns and having the general similar atmosphere.

There are a few standout moments here, Father and Son has a great Nordland I feel to it, reminiscent of the epic title track with the sprawling sound of a moving chorus and great melodies. Even Thor the Thunder God has a few moments of Bathory's more epic grandiose Viking moments, which is a good thing and works well for Hildr Valkyrie. These are the types of moments that she needs to accent and take more control of, instead of the first couple tracks where it's all synth laden reptition and little much value after multiple listens. Also to be found are covers of Falkenbach and Bathory, now I haven't heard the Falkenbach original, but here it is done quite decent and a nicer input of folk induced epic metal, with more guitar interaction to be found. Bathory's Ring of Fire is to be found and Quorthon would be proud I'm sure after hearing Hildr Valkyrie's decent cover, more of her typical style to be found in overtaking this cover, but less synth work and more intense vocal melodies.

Shield Brothers of Valhalla is a decent "metal" album that fans of Nordland I era Bathory, Falkenbach, Summoning and Folkearth should take notice, because there is much talent to be found here. The only problem I have with this is the lack of guitar and "metal" to be found here. I can only imagine how awesome and epic this would be if even a slightly bit more riff oriented, taking a page out of Quorthon's book would have been excellent. This is a decent listen and something great to listen to whilst walking through the woods or in the mood for something fucking epic and grandiose, this is for you; just be warned, the lasting value doesn't exactly stick like it could have! This an honest effort and should be taken notice despite certain drawbacks, it's worth listening to every once in a while but not something that stays on constant replay every day.