Nokturnal Mortum
The Taste of Victory
7.3
Nokturnal Mortum is one of the long runners in the ever-expanding folk metal genre. Hailing from the Ukraine, Nokturnal Mortum has built up a strong cult following with classic releases like Lunar Poetry. This is a band that was ahead of their time and is still able to put out strong, solid releases. Combining grim black metal with folk, classical and symphonic elements Nokturnal Mortum never gets boring. Now it’s been a while since I have last heard this band, although I do remember liking them, I hardly remember it being this much. This might have been due to the fact I couldn’t have fully grasped what they had to offer at the time, as I wasn’t as much into the pagan/folk/viking material as I am now. But rest assured any fans of this genre or band will not be disappointed with this release. Nokturnal Mortum can butt heads with the best of them. The Taste of Victory is nothing short of epic from start to finish with the shortest track (there’s only four) clocking in at 7:40. Each opus takes on a different sense of its own while still blending seamlessly with each other. The first track, “Mirovozzrenie” starts off with a straight-up folk intro with strings abound, while the second track, “Novaja Era Mechje” takes on a more metal front with a more upbeat tone. The third track, “Vkus Pobedy” is one of those tracks you’ll hear on many Viking metal albums that just gives you this feeling like you should be sailing the stormy waters of the icy north or standing upon a snow-clad mountain peering down at the dark forest below in all its pagan glory. The final track, “Stal’nym Orlom V Zlatuju Svargu”, is a fourteen-minute opus that reigns hard in the symphonic folk metal department with harsh double kicks, fast guitars, powerful acoustic guitars paired with flutes, and epic keyboard work. Nokturnal Mortum isn’t a band that’s about stellar musicianship, their strong point lies in the songwriting department. Sure the guitars are harsh and blackened, the keyboards are epic, the drums are solid, the vokills grim, and the folk instruments well utilized, but never do any of these elements really stand out fully from one another. When blended they fuse to create the intriguing sound that Nokturnal Mortum is so well known for. The combination of the electronica sounding keyboards and folk style acoustic guitar in the final track melds perfectly with the harsh vikingish (similar to Thyrfing) style vokills and is a perfect example of why Nokturnal Mortum is such a strong outfit. If you even remotely dig this sound you will not be disappointed. The Taste of Victory is a sure fire winner in any pagan/folk metal fans collection. A solid release well worth your hard earned cash indeed.
