Rating: 8.0

Country: Canada

Release Date: 2004

Record Label: White Legends

Track list:
1. Midvinterblod
2. Haunting The Runes
3. Superior Winds
4. Threshold of the Unseen
5. The Burning Season
6. As Creation Wept
7. Loki's Fury
8. Drifting of Ull [MP3]
9. Thirteen Oar's Of Misfortune
10. While You Lie Bleeding
11. Gammellandet

Total playing time: 32:48

Band Website: Bloodaxe

Bloodaxe - Raping The Ancient

Nordavinden Lien - Guitar, Bass, Vocals
Rati - Drums

Viking Metal from Canada huh? Well, I'm of the opinion that as long as they're of Nordic descent, this sort of thing is great no matter where the band originates from. Bloodaxe's second CD is a fierce whirlwind of insane drumming (particularly the virulent cymbal abuse) and maddeningly distorted vocals underpinned by a storm of buzzing guitar molestation. Yep, this is Viking metal in the vein of In Battle and Odhinn, very far from the more epic side of this style pioneered by the likes of Bathory and Manowar. In fact, the first 7 songs all proceed at nearly the exact same pace, with only the riffs to distinguish individual songs – if you concentrate only on the drums, it's like listening to a single 15-minute track. Things slow down a bit with the more epic “Drifting of Ull” and “Thirteen Oar's Of Misfortune” (sic) although they quickly revert to blasting your brains out again. All the while, the vocals appear to have been recorded inside an ice-cave, reverberating and rasping like the tongue of Audhumla.

It's really quite difficult to pick standouts here, since the entire CD is one big Thor's hammer smashing you in the face, with more attention paid to violence and hatred than songwriting, but that's all good. It's quite mesmerizing in it's own insane manner, drawing you into a world where battle is the only way to live and die, and a sword could come out of the snow at any moment to sever your unsuspecting head and unceremoniously leave you to rot in the frozen tundra, attended only by a few hungry ravens.

June 24th, 2005