ENCORION
– Facing History and Ourselves (2011)
Sleaszy Rider Records
The Dutch newcomers ENCORION arrived with their debut
full-length, Facing History and Ourselves, presenting a distinctive rendition
of folk and Viking metal while revealing themselves as a hard-working,
well-bonded band with considerable potential for the future. Released by the
Greek label Sleaszy Rider Records in March 2011, the album introduced a group
willing to explore the meeting point between traditional folk expression and
the darker, more aggressive language of extreme metal.
Facing History and Ourselves feels like a distillation
of the band’s experiences, influences and musical ambitions. Rather than simply
reproducing the established formulas of the genre, ENCORION use their debut to
look backward while simultaneously trying to pave the way toward their future.
The result is an engaging mixture of the elements for which folk, pagan and
Viking metal are known: atmospheric melodies, a strong sense of historical
identity and the forceful impact of death- and black-metal-inspired aggression.
What works particularly well here is the band’s
understanding of contrast. ENCORION know how to blend traditional folk melodies
with extreme-metal intensity, finding an effective balance between the soft,
organic ideas of the past and the contemporary, hard-edged character of
aggressive metal. The music does not treat these two sides as opposites that
cannot coexist; instead, it allows them to strengthen one another. Melodic
passages create atmosphere and emotional depth, while the heavier sections add
urgency and power.
The violin plays an important role in shaping this
identity. Its presence gives the material additional depth and helps accentuate
the album’s central contradiction: the dialogue between past and present,
heritage and modernity, organic melody and metallic force. In this context, the
instrument is more than a decorative folk-metal detail. It becomes one of the
elements that gives ENCORION’s sound its own character and helps separate the
band from more conventional extreme-metal acts.
The album also reflects the broader Dutch folk-metal
tradition, a scene that has produced several bands combining European folklore,
pagan themes and extreme-metal foundations. ENCORION’s approach belongs to this
wider musical landscape, but Facing History and Ourselves demonstrates that the
band were not merely following a trend. Their emphasis on melodic development,
violin-led colour and the collision of folk sensibility with black/death-metal
aggression gives the release a personal and promising direction.
As a debut, Facing History and Ourselves may still
carry the traces of a band developing its full identity, but that is also part
of its appeal. It captures ENCORION at an early and important stage: ambitious,
sincere and clearly aware of the possibilities within their chosen style. The
record shows a skillful group with strong chemistry, a clear affection for
folk-inspired melody and the ability to create convincing tension between
atmospheric passages and extreme-metal power.
Facing History and Ourselves is a very good debut from
a band that has the potential to offer even more in the future. If you are into
folk, Viking or pagan extreme metal, ENCORION are certainly worth checking
out—and their name is one you should keep in mind.
Christine
Parastatidou
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