Nænia

Nænia's self-titled EP is their first foray into the folk metal scene, and while far from a knockout blow, I imagine it could have gone so much worse. How many folk metal bands fire off their first EPs with shit-tier midi replications of traditional folk instruments? Even if that number was one, the answer would still be far too many. Fleshing out their metal with mandolin and pipes, Nænia opts for the real thing instead of the shithouse imitation game that rears its ugly head on many a folk metal demo. While not the most memorable slab of material, Nænia burst onto the scene with a sound already well polished and any rough edges already smoothed down.

Nænia can't claim to boast a unique sound for a folk metal group. Well I guess they could, but they wouldn't be fooling anyone. They play somewhat of a balancing act, teetering back and forth on a seesaw between goofball alehouse folk metal and the dead-serious pagan school that leans closer to black metal. It's not so much that they have a weird mishmash of sections belonging to each school of folk metal, it's more like individual elements are playing an internal tug of war. The results can be rather awkward. Perhaps the best example of this are the clean vocals. Deep, deadpan chants often lock into a bouncy ale-swilling groove. It's like if a vocalist from the most self-serious blackened folk band accidentally showed up during a Korpiklaani studio session.

As far as they fare as musicians, they're all perfectly able players. It's hard to call any of the riffs downright bad. It's hard to call any of them great, either. A lot of it comes off as perfunctory. The same can be said of the rhythm section. Some of the leads are pretty good I suppose, but nothing standout enough to make Nænia particularly memorable. The pipes have a good tone and set the atmosphere. They often unfold in quasi-drones. It's the same sort of deal you'd expect from atmospheric synths in a black metal band. It's not full ambient, but it almost might as well be. These are a nice touch, they're more interesting than some token keyboard padding. Nænia have a Mandolin player, but this largely falls under the radar. It's a shame, mandolin is a cool instrument.

Nænia put forward an above average blackened folk metal EP, but that's fairly faint praise given that half these bands are out here with shit-tier midi bagpipes and whatnot. I can't imagine myself ever coming back to or even even recalling that Nænia exists again. For what it's worth, they know what they're doing as musicians and the production is miles ahead of most new bands. Could have used some more interesting riffs, though.