How to interpret heathen Metal without a bunch of folk instruments, synths (ok, you get a bit of that in the last song) or choirs is fairly good shown here by the Estonian band THARAPHITA on their fourth (the band is active since the end of the 90s) album titled Iidsetel Sünkjatel Radad. Instead of adding a lot of bombastic sounds, THARAPHITA take a rather wild, aggressive and fresh sounding approach. Fresh mainly because of the stormy and tumultuous feel and the noticeable joy of play of the seven songs. Musically speaking TARAPHITA don’t really tread on new or fresh paths as Iidsetel Sünkjatel Radad is more filled with an old school vibe, combining a bit of Heavy Metal with a great dose of Black and Thrash but also adding a form of heathen spirit comparable in some ways to Moonsorrow’s Verisäkeet. The later aspect more or less in a more compressed form as all of the songs range between five and seven minutes and no song reaching overlength.
The songs are all very catchy and directly stick to the listener’s ear, making first your feet tap on the ground, then pressing your head to nod and finally leaving the listener banging and furiously screaming along. Though one doesn’t really know what one is screaming along as the lyrics are completely Estonian. But who cares – at least it’s aggressive and war-like, hehe.
Iidsetel Sünkjatel Radad really makes a lot of fun listening to it. Somehow this album brings a comparison like “Kreator, Nocturnal Breed and Bewitched stealing an acoustic guitar and some of the epic feel inherent to many Pagan Metal bands” to my mind.
Ok – Iidsetel Sünkjatel Radad isn’t full of variation but the musician’s joy of playing and the catchiness is really infecting and the well dosed acoustic parts break up the mainly speedy and pushing song material just in the right fitting way.
I personally like this album a lot. Especially the fact that here in contrast to the either very majestic or evil crushing albums of the overall Pagan Metal genre some mangy and wild “Fighting Spirit” is conjured. Not that I’m not a fan of epic and bombast but sometimes you just need an album like Iidsetel Sünkjatel Radad, which is a heavy kick in face, sounding archaic, rakish but also decently filled with a heathen flair.
A length of ca. 37 minutes isn’t really something one could call value for money but hey – just listen to the album a second time directly. Sometimes you just don’t need more.
Shortcut: This album is pure crushing fun!