OAKENSHIELD „Gylfaginning”

Music: Folk/Viking Metal
Website: http://www.oakenshield.org
Country: UK
Cool songs: Idavoll, Fenris, The Death of Baldr

What is OAKENSHIELD? It is a project of one man. And that man is Ben Corkhill, the one who stood behind another project called NIFELHEL. After releasing two demos, Ben decided to change not only his image but also the name and the themes. He ended up as a warrior with a huge oaken shield and now he is serving us melodies from the Viking land. Gylfaginning is his first full length album, preceded by a demo of the same title. And now lets taste the pagan sound

From the very beginning it is audible Bens fascination with the legendary FALKENBACH. Just listen to those chary riffs and means of expression and you will know what I mean. But do not underestimate Bens abilities, as all that stuff is placed deliberately, in order to create a specific musical character and atmosphere. It seems that there is nothing more to add, but just listen to the opening track and everything will be clear to you. It is a tiny masterpiece which was waiting to be released and now it is jumping all around and contaminating everyone with its splendour and nobility. Yes, because this album is filled with noble sounds and its content is very intelligent. The music is thought over, there is not any place for boredom, repetitions or redundant sounds. The whole is absolutely complete. Do not try to listen to it in a various way, i.e. skipping one track after another, because by speed listening you will deprive yourself from all the beauty which is present in the music, and state, that the compositions sound exactly the same. The idea is to listen deeply, to grasp the core of the sound, to go beyond the spectre of cognition and pragmatism. Just try to look at it in a semantic way… this music is a kind of a meta-language with which Ben is trying to amaze and chant us. And he is doing damn well. The music, as mentioned earlier, is very chary. But at the same time it gained a magical spark which is audible in it till the end. The hymns are fantastic, they are filled with nobility, melancholy and grim sadness. Although the power sometimes helps to overcome the pessimistic mood. Just listen to Fenris or great The Death of Baldr, which soak into the mind and occupy its grey sphere for hours. The riffs are not powerful, they are a bit lazy, but is it a sin? In such music it is a wonderful style and level indicator, showing the mastery of its creator. And Bens vocal is of a high value – his hoarse vox sounds cool and it is hard to imagine something else in its place. It seems that he has found a golden middle for a musical folk rhapsody. With one slight minus – the drums. Yes, the percussion machine sounds awfully, but what can one do? It makes the whole a bit artificial and provokes the listener to state: what kind of folk is that, where the machine is playing drums… but believe me, again, mainly thanks to those repeated drum sections the album gets even more chary, thus it is richer in expressiveness and rawness. And it allows to make the album a concept one, where the compositions melt into one overture. The climax hits the speakers in Vigrid where the drum sections and main motif is the same as in Ginnungagap, but it is more Spartan.

To sum it up, OAKENSHIELD is a very interesting musical proposition to every metal fan interested in Viking and folk music. The lyrical themes are obvious: Nordic Mythology. So you will find there a lot of links to ancient gods and heroes. Not to mention all those odd-sounding titles. Well, start studying Norse languages… as it seems that it is going to be Bens style. All in all… an obligatory position in every FALKENBACH fans shelf. Buy it or get lost!

note: 9/10

Tracklist

1. Ginnungagap
2. The Sons of Bor
3. Idavoll
4. Yggdrasil
5. The Aesir
6. Fenris
7. Valhalla
8. Utgarda-Loki
9. Hymir
10. The Death of Baldr
11. Vigrid

Total playing time 61:09

Line-up

Ben Corkhill – vocals, guitars, bass guitar, keyboards, drum programming, recording
Gareth Evans – session violin