| Otyg ‘Alvefard’ Napalm , 1998 Lord Pale : Otyg is a Swedish folk metal band featuring Vintersorg on vocals who weaves his ‘entertaining’ clean vocals throughout the album accompanied at times by the voice of Kia Hedmark with her own great vocals . Unlike Norway’s Storm , Otyg focus more on the folk side of folk metal with flutes , violins , and mouth harps being a big part of their sound . The guitar work is more melodic than that of Storm too with soft metal melodies and folkish dirge riffs akin to the lighter side of Mithotyn . Alvefard contains plenty of variation over the course of its 12 tracks from the smirk inducing ‘Fjallstorm’ , to the deep chant like chorus of ‘Myrdingar – Martyrium’ , through to the Celtic style intro of ‘Fjalldrottningens Slott’ , but I find that album tracks blend together over its 42 minute course ( perhaps because of the folk instrumentation ) unless you really pay attention to the music ( in which case you’ll notice more and get more out of it anyway ) . Overall a unique and interesting sounding release . Favourite Tracks – Fjallstorm , Fjalldrottningens Slott , Myrdingar – Martyrium Mark – 7.5/10 Otyg ‘Sagovindars Boning’ Napalm , Otyg’s second album Sagovindars Boning sees little change from the stylings of the band debut Alvefard except perhaps for a more powerful production and a slightly higher metal content . Vintersorg’s vocals dominate the mic this time around but there are still plenty of occasions that the female vocals interact with them . The violins , flutes , and mouth harps are still abundant , giving the album a nice bouncy feel at times , and the stronger production lends the guitars work a heavier edge . Highlights include ‘Holy Diver’ a cover of the Dio classic ( with a violin nailing the guitar solo !!! ) , ‘Backahasten’ ( perhaps Otyg’s heaviest track to date ) , ‘Trollslottet’ ( a fairly standard Otyg track but a good one ) , and the yodelling outtake of ‘Gygralock’ which always brings a smile to my face ( and pierces my ears ) . Overall a very similar sounding release with a lot in common to its predecessor although with subtle welcome changes that should appease fans of the original . Favourite Tracks – Backahasten , Varulvanatt , Holy Diver Mark – 7.5/10. |
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