VARANG NORD – Fire of
the North
Metal Scrap Records
VARANG NORD is a newcoming band with only a
year of experience and yet they feel ready to unleash upon us their debut EP
titled “Fire of the North”. Well, I think mentioning the genre this quartet
belongs to is redundant… a look at their moniker is more than enough to
understand their music origins and orientation.
Varang is I think a slight
change of the word Varangian and those who are into history will surely know
that this is the name the Greeks and east Slavs gave to the Vikings who ruled
Rus, some of which later formed the Byzantine Varangian Guard which, among its
other duties, also protected the emperor. Enough with this! I think you got my
point which is no other than to underline that VARANG NORD from Latvia belong
to the Viking folk metal genre, a style that is very popular over there in the
north with lots of bands delivering this sound. I must say that “Fire of the
North” is a more than decent first work with interesting songs, catchy riffs,
nice folk melodies and a beautiful accordion enriching the metal side of the
songs and enhancing their essence. The riffs and melodies are catchy and the
rhythm section is solid while the vocals with their harshness make the music
sound more extreme and intense. However, since this is a debut work showing
their influences is more than natural for VARANG NORD, which is a band that
will be appreciated by fans of bands like early AMORPHIS, KORPIKLAANI, TURISAS
and AMON AMARTH to name a few. If these bands belong to your favourite then I
urge you to check “Fire of the North” out. I’m sure you won’t regret it!
Christine
Parastatidou
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