Otyg
Alvefard

Andreas Hedlund. Mr V. He's the one behind Otyg. Amazing.

But upon closer inspection, not so much, after all, from a gentleman who holds the scepter of over five bands SIMULTANEOUSLY, you expect that at any moment, when you least expect it, he might bring out something else. He has practically tried every type of music, from the alienated black/prog/viking of Vintersorg to the folk-tinged black and death of Borknagar up to the extreme Fission, but also the prog metal of Cronian and the schizoid metal jazz of Waterclime. A complete genius of the 2000s.

But let's go back, to Otyg indeed, and to their 1998 album, "Alvefard".

Just for a change -it really is the case to say it!- this time it's folk. Sometimes the metal component prevails, many other times the rock one. But always folk at its core. Of the best kind. Not like what the cover might suggest, for heaven's sake! But the colors are perfectly matched, we are not faced with a gray and serious folk, nor with the banality of certain Korpiklaani-style antics... A correct middle ground. Not obvious melodies, painted by often discreet guitars that almost never dominate -except in the most metal parts-: the center of attention is all for the voice of Hedlund/Vintersorg, typical man of the North, almost as if he took you by the arm and sang right in your face with alcohol-laden breath. How can you say no to someone like that? The icing on the cake is a violin that runs wild for most of the album (on par with the flute), also very original, played by a girl who also contributes sweet vocals alongside Hedlund's deeper ones.

One of the best folk albums ever heard, says someone who doesn't excessively love the genre, forty-two carefree minutes of folkloric flights. You must have at least one album of this kind in your collection.