1. FIMBULVET: Helias Bann
2. HROMOVLAD: Slavia
3. TUMULUS: Kochevonov Plyas
4. DARK FOREST: Journey To Ever-Eternal Skies
5. TIWAZ: The Battlelore
6. DYRATHOR: Im Auge Des Sturms
7. XERION: No Pazo Derruido Da Existencia
8. ADORNED BROOD: Sons Of The Damned
9. WAYLANDER: As Deities Clash
10. NATAN: Volkskracht
11. ANDRAS: Miasma Track
12. OBSCURITY: Nach Asgard Wir Reiten
13. VINTERNATT: De Zwarte Mis

Graphical presentation, information and music sum up to a felicitous package and this compilation features the best of Pagan Metal has to offer these days.
The cover artwork by Ed Repka looks like a charming and amusing eye-catcher, on the CD itself we all can see a detail from the cover art.

In the unloading booklet Markus Eck placed some of his nice nature pictures; some of them are done in macromedia modus and fit the concept of Pagan Metal best, namely relatedness to nature! We get enough information about every band concerning country, line-up and internet sites. In addition, Markus added a card on which he explains his intention behind METALMESSGE V to all music adepts.

Now let’s talk about music! We all know that Markus definitely knows how to present a variable sampler. Apart from some well-known groups like ADORNED BROOD, WAYLANDER, ANDRAS or OBSCURITY we get the chance to listen to quite a lot underground acts.
It starts in heroic manner with FIMBULVET, who set their focus on epic arrangements and anthemic guitar work. Fortunately they do not forget to integrate some double bass parts to add a driving pinch to the tune.
The flute is an important instrument for HROMOVLAD from Slovakia, combined with martial samples in the beginning, ere aggressive screeching and high speed take on the lead, but offering some borne parts as contrast.

TUMULUS from Russia also use the flute, but in this case the high-pitched vocals are sounding quite uncommon. Concerning rhythms, the band surprises with a bunch of baubleries, which sounds interesting because of the space-like keyboard.
DARK FOREST are not that experimental, but very epic. The track is dominated by sluggish rhythms, building up a similar atmosphere as the one Falkenbach creates. Black Metal vocals can be heard, but also some choir parts come into operation, though the unloading instrumental passages play the most important role.
The band TIWAZ starts immediately without introduction, reminding me of Heidevolk because of the vocal variations. The musical build-up consists of dark, quite fast Metal, which contains some Black Metal elements, too.
Afterwards, DYRATHOR present a German track called Im Auge Des Sturms. Acoustic guitars, the violin and broad keyboards dominate the track, which sounds nice, but way too unspectacular!
The next horde XERION is unleashed from Spain with melodic Black Metal. In the second part of the song very cool guitar melodies appear and contribute esprit to the quite monotonous structure.
Best-known ADORNED BROOD use screeched vocals, which are contrasted by a highly melodic refrain. The music presents many rhythmic changes and surprises through a felicitous piano adoption.

WAYLANDER from Ireland are another famous band, adding zest to their composition with some Irish folk melodies. The flute carries the track’s structure; sometimes the band throttles the speed adeptly and builds up suspense with soft acoustic guitars and spoken vocals, ere they speed up anew.
The Belgians NATAN offer pure Black Metal with decent Folk influences. The acoustic break in the middle of the song is outstanding and contrasts the continuous high speed conveniently, because the sentiment is changed completely.
ANDRAS from Germany took a nice development concerning the vocals sounding very heroic as well as harmonious (remember Vintersorg!), but also screeched or growling timbres are presented. ANDRAS show their strongest side through their epic way of arranging.
I like the dynamic Death Metal track by OBSCURITY! Obviously the band has listened to a certain Viking horde from Sweden :)

The concluding song is performed by the Belgian group VINTERNATT. In this case the violin contributes a lot to the atmospheric mood. Unfortunately the sound is quite weak, but the created sentiment relativizes this blemish.

Conclusion: METALMESSAGE V = all around successful!