Fejd - Nagelfar

Artist: Fejd

Album: Nagelfar

Label: Napalm Records

Genre: Folk metal, Neofolk

Released: July 3rd, 2013 

The Swedish band Fejd have released their third full length album Nagelfar. While typically classified as a folk metal band, Fejd have much more folk to their music than metal. Using a wide array of traditional instruments, and refraining from the use of electric guitars gives these Swedes their typical sound.

Nagelfar is completely sung in Swedish – and the vocals take a strong position on this album. Passages of story-telling vocals or choir-like chanting vocals are followed by passages of folk music. The only “metal” part to the album is the use of an electric bass and drums.

Fejd are under the lead of the brothers Rimmerfors, who also perform as a folk music duo. Adding the drums and bass gives their music a punch of heaviness, which makes them sound somewhere in the vicinity of Haggard, In Extremo and Corvus Corax, yet with more viking blood in their music.

On Nagelfar, most tracks are performed in midtempo, which makes the album float by, but misses the opportunity to add dynamics to the music by playing with the tempo. The epic feeling of most viking metal bands is not far away, yet the unique sound of Fejd makes this album interesting.

The opening track “Ulvsgald” gives us a perfect sample of the rest of the album: deep folksy riffs, versatile vocals and heavy drumming. The gentlemen of Fejd, with their unique setup, have found a formula that makes their music distinctly their own – and they stay true to their magic formula.

Nagelfar takes us to medieval Sweden, and it sounds like a joyous place to be. Although covered in the mists of time, the music of Fejd sounds all together upbeat and cheerful. Some noteworty tracks on the album include the strong opener “Ulvsgald”, the fifth track “Den Skimrande”, with it's tarantella-like dancing rhythm to it, and the closing track “Haxfard”, in which the brothers Rimmerfors show off their skills on their wide array of instruments for one final time.

To conclude: Nagelfar by Fejd underlines the folk in folk metal: using many traditional instruments and leaving out the electric guitars, their music has a distinctive feel to it. Check out a sample of their music here:

Buy Fejd - Nagelfar