TROLLFEST – En Kvest For Den Hellige Gral

In Heavy Metal, like in any type of musical genre, some things were bound to be weird. Even though the Norwegian group TrollfesT isn’t the only odd thing around, these guys have been showing throughout their career that there are no boundaries and that their wicked style is one of the weirdest. Probably the most original aspect of their music is the language that is used to convey their “fine” lyrics. “Troll-Sprak” is a sort of a mixture between Norwegian and German; therefore for most listeners the lyrics will only serve as a curtain behind the music.

TrollfesT has released its fourth album, En Kvest For Den Hellige Gral, which probably stands for something that involves alcohol or something else that deals with trolls. The band’s music over the years has shaped up to be a rather interesting mixture, taking the fine elements of Folk Metal and mixing it with riffages of Thrash, while adding some extreme elements of Death Metal. Within this mixture, Folk Metal rules the day on En Kvest For Den Hellige Gral. The track “Gjetord” was the best example of how the band implements all those genres together and in the best possible sense.

However, this album isn’t always enjoyable. The elements of Folk that were used extensively, such as the Banjo and Accordion, raise the spirits of the album to some level, but the (let’s call it) normal music turned out to be a bit banal as the album progresses, and even leads to boredom sometimes. However, the solid playing of the band’s official new member, Per Sepelmannen, did the band a huge favor. Molding what sounds to be Mexican music along with Gypsy / Balkan acoustic riffages, makes quite an impact on the atmosphere surrounding the songs. You can say that most of the quality leads consist of using acoustic measures, as there were almost no electric solos or melodies of the kind. The only track that really thrilled with the mix of acoustic and electric scorchers was “Jevnes Med Jorden”. Sadly, on this particular track the production blew it by not providing for that cool electric lead section to kick in as it should.

Perhaps the most annoying aspect of this release were the vocal lines by Trollmannen. Without considering the fact that the band’s own language is just for kicks, and it means nothing, some of the vocal lines didn’t seem to fit the spirit of the tracks. However, TrollfesT did well with some of the riffs by diverting the strong rhythms (similar to the acoustics), and thus creating a cool harmony.  However, not all of those were that exciting.

En Kvest For Den Hellige Gral is a “not bad” release. It may have endorsed a great new sound and some interesting Folkish tunes; yet, most of the vocal lines and a pack load of the riffs were either misplaced or overused.

Tracklist

1. Die Verdammte Hungersnot
2. Karve
3. Die Berüchtiges Bande
4. Gjetord
5. Der Sündenbock Gegalte
6. Korstog
7. Undermålere
8. Jevnes med Jorden
9. En Gammel Trollsti

Lineup

Per Sepelmann – Accordion, Banjo
Manskow – Guitars
Psychotroll – Bass
Mr. Seidel – Guitars
Trollmannen – Vocals