Search - Moonsorrow :: Tulimyrsky EP

Moonsorrow cannot make mediocre music

MarquisdeSade | Atlanta, GA | 07/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm not a finnish speaker and I'm waiting for the official english translation of the lyrics, so I'll keep this review short. This EP features a 29:45 long track, Tulimyrsky, two covers (including For Whom The Bell Tolls from Metallica's Ride The Lightning), and two re-recordings of songs from their early demos. That's 68 minutes of music... quite an earful for an EP.



People generously apply the word "epic" for songs that are greater than 5 minutes in length, and by that measure, Tulimyrsky must be one of the greatest. But this track deserves that title many times over for the music: the soundscapes and spoken finnish paint pictures of ancient battles. The story is set in many parts, and the spoken interludes are haunting even to someone like me who does not understand one word of Finnish. The guitaring and keyboards are exceptional, as is the drumming, and often, it sounds like there are many other instruments going in the background too. The melodies leave you wishing they were longer (e.g., 10:20 or 18:46). Not at one point does the song sound patchy or hastily strung together. Undoubtedly one of the best tracks I've heard all year. I've heard Tulimyrsky over 30 times, and I think it could be Moonsorrow's greatest song, which is saying a lot.



The next track is a folk-metal style rework of For Whom the Bell Tolls. I really liked how Moonsorrow didn't try to copy the original... these guys have really breathed new life and melodies into (e.g., the outro) that song. The intro itself lasts 3 minutes, for god's sake!



I will not comment upon the other three tracks (as I'm a relatively new Moonsorrow fan) except to say that these tracks are exactly what you'd expect of Moonsorrow: excellent, uncompromising, epic music.



So, do not hesitate... Moonsorrow is not black metal or melodic death metal or folk metal, but a surprisingly effective blend of all three, and this EP is as good a place to get into them as any. Pick it up now!"

Yeeeehhhaaawww

Der Hammer des Kuchens | Kalifornia | 10/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This EP easily could've been Moonsorrow's next album because it's over an hour long with 5 songs 1 new, 2 covers and 2 re-recordings of demos but instead they decided just to make it an EP says a lot about them as musicians I think. The new song is almost half an hour long and it's EPIC without a dull moment which is something these guys are good at and not every can do that. There are a lot of different parts through the song where it has its heavy moments, then folky moments, spoken interludes where you can hear sounds of nature and battle scenes in the background and there're parts where they all come together but no where is there a dull moment in this amazing song. There are only lyrics for this song in the cover but they don't include the english translations and it says to go the their website, which I did but they didn't have the translation up yet, but they might now.



One of the cover versions is For Whom the Bell Tolls by Metallica, which is one of their songs that I actually really like, but after hearing this version I can never go make to listening to the original because this one is far better. They easily made this song their own by adding that touch of theirs by making it epic and throwing in some folk which just makes this out into an amazing song. Their next cover is Back to North by Merciless, which I have not heard but I'm sure that this version is far superior to the original in the ways that For Whom the Bell Tolls is. They 2 covers are also the first songs that these guys have sung in English.



The 2 re-recordings from earlier demos are more black metal oriented with very little folkish elements thrown in and they are all over the place with the fast guitar fiffs. Personally I don't really care for these songs because they don't have that great Moonsorrow sound like the other songs but the're okay.



This is a very good CD and I would recommend it to anyone who likes Moonsorrow, folk metal or epic sounding music because you won't be sorry, I know I'm not.



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