Label : Century Media Records
Review by Tony Cannella
Finland’s Kivimetsän Druidi have described their music as extreme fantasy metal. After listening to their newest release “Betrayal, Justice, Revenge” (awesome title, in my opinion), that is indeed a fitting description. The band include two lead singers with Leeni Maria on female vocals and Joni taking command of the growling, male vocal parts. The 9-songs and 45-minutes worth of music contained here feature some big, bombastic, slightly orchestral music, mixed quite nicely with symphonic power metal, Folk and even some elements of Thrash metal, which is never a bad thing. The CD begins with the melancholy timber of the opening piano intro “Lament for the Fallen” which leads into the absolutely crushing track “Aesis Lilim”. Next the band tear into one of the best tracks on the CD “Seawitch and the Sorcerer”. Other highlights include: “The Visitor”, “Chant of the Winged One” and the final track “Desolation: White Wolf” quickly became another favorite. “Betrayal, Justice, Revenge” is loaded with some truly powerful guitar riffs and the duel vocals are well done and play a huge part in making this CD so enjoyable.Another thing I really liked about “Betrayal, Justice, Revenge” is the bands ability to be melodic at times while being aggressive at others.I have to say that it is always cool when a band that you’re not at all familiar with turns out to be a powerful and impressive entity – such is the case with Kivimetsän Druidi. There are a lot of interesting, heavy and even some surprising not so heavy moments (such as the piano intro) on “Betrayal, Justice, Revenge”. This Finnish band are really a force that I am sure will be reckoned with.
Rating – 88/100
Tracklist
- Lament for the Fallen
- Aesis Lilim
- Seawitch and the Sorcerer
- The Visitor
- Manalan Vartija
- Tuoppein’nostelulaulu
- Chant of the Winged One
- Of Betrayal
- Desolation: White Wolf
Line Up
- Leeni-Maria Hovila – Vocals
- Joni Koskinen – Growling Vocals & Guitar
- Antti Rinkinen – Guitar
- Antti Koskinen – Keyboards & Backing Vocals
- Simo Lehtonen – Bass & Backing Vocals
- Atte Marttinen – Drums & Backing Vocals
Links