Review Summary: SLAY THE ONE EYED GIANT HIPPO AND YOU SHALL PREVAIL
I listen to music solely because of emotion and atmosphere. I need to be transported into another dimension whether it’s fighting off Orcs with my Celtic long sword wielding brothers or standing alone on top of a mountain cliff that overlays Cthulhu’s stretch of the sea. For the most part lyrics, technical mastery, and booming production mean *** to me. If a band is able to penetrate my creative mind with such vivid thoughts then it’s a good bet I’ll fall in love with the band. Or at the very least I will enjoy them mildly. The band I bring into the light today is Feikn and they transport me back to the renaissance period where tomatoes throwing stands, lute toting douche bags and fair maidens are found in bountiful qualities.
Feikn is a Danish black metal band that formed in the late 90’s and broke up a little bit later. Mostly In part due to a tragic event regarding one of the band’s original members. Feikn play raw Scandinavian black metal. But wait! Don’t get carried away you boisterous sluts. They aren’t the raw, hateful garden variety type. No. Their sound is rather upbeat and often incorporates clean instrumental breaks, stirring female vocals and spellbinding Renaissance melodies when not transitioning into abrasive mid paced black metal. Helhesten is the band’s only record EP. Coming in at two songs and eight minutes of material, there really isn’t much to dissect here. It’s basically a porn teaser for dungeon dwelling socialites. You get a tasy sampler, want more but then BOOM!!!!!!! ***. No more. But seriously folks, let me break it down to you in simple semantics.
Helhesten opens the EP with a clean melodic guitar note. Reminiscing of a time where lutes, fair maidens and artistry were prominent. But then a minute into the track you are introduced to blast beats, angst ridden screams and “hell breaks out” aggression. It’s clear to me that this journey just took a turn for the worse. Arm yourself men with swords and chain mail. There is an evil dragon lurking about. A dragon who sexually harasses young maidens, steals produce and defecates all over public property. The dragon needs to be stopped at any cost. Then operatic female crooning is brought in to restore harmony. With a heartwarming tone and engaging stage presence the fair maiden inspires the dragon to fly off peacefully and the town is restored. Clean guitar notes are brought in to elevate the renaissance vibe. The harsh to clean dynamics are performed admirably on this EP without sounding forced or gimmicky. Feikn balances the two opposing forces extremely well although the screamed vocals I feel could have been a little more manic in my opinion. Riffs are simple but catchy and effective. Emanating a early Primordial vibe, the guitars prove to be no match for the good villagers of Cacksville. The dragon returns and defecates all over everybody. The Joan of Ark-esque figure soon returns and punches the dragon so ***in hard in the throat that the dragon flies off again. Except this time due to a concussion the dragon flies straight into a volcano and dies. The town is saved. The rhythm section gives a solid performance with fluid drumming patterns and ghostly bass lines that linger deep into the background.
The band of warriors find themselves in the midst of yet another perilous task. There is a one eyed giant hippo threatening to eat every one of the villager’s children if they don’t pay him and his hippo children enough corn to sustain his family for two weeks. With the EP coming in at only two tracks there wasn;t any time to appease the hippos‘. So, in turn, the hippos ate every child in Cacksville. Helhesten is a pleasant two track EP for fans of In The Woods…,Dead Can Dance, or any kind of metal/world/folk classifying ***ass with a labtop. Not essential but enjoyable.
