The Pagan / Viking Metal sub-genre is said by evil tongues to have a certain Ballermann flavour. This may certainly be true at times, but you have to separate the wheat from the chaff and concentrate on the right bands. Alongside the almighty MOONSORROW, HAVUKRUUNU, who have created a contender for the best Metal album of the year with their concept album “Tavastland”, are among those who act in a kitsch-free manner. The band manages to combine the power of early melodic Black and Death Metal with the epicness of the Viking Metal albums of BATHORY and create an atmosphere similar to that of the gigantic soundtrack to the film “Conan the Barbarian”. There are an incredible number of typical male choir moments and passages where you just want to raise your fist to the heavens and call Odin. Again and again, you feel as if the blessed spirit of Quorthon is accompanying you to Valhalla and you sink into a harsh yet beautiful soundscape. Majestic is the right word to describe “Tavastland”. Despite all the epicness, a good portion of Rock’n’Roll feeling in the classic Metal sense has crept in. In contrast to its direct predecessor, the songs sound a little rougher and sometimes need a longer time to settle in the ears of the listening warrior. The fact that the album is a little less catchy and a little harder has the positive side effect that it’s a work that you can take a second to listen to and enjoy listening to again and again. Especially the very emotional guitar work and the simply great vocals, which are convincing in the Black Metal moments as well as in the clean singing, fascinate immensely and ensure that the concept of the content has been perfectly realised musically. The content deals with the uprising of the inhabitants of the historical region of Tavastland against the Christian invasion in 1237, so it’s also worth taking a look at the band’s lyrics. Of course, the band hasn’t fundamentally changed musically, which is a good thing, because no fan of the band or the subgenre will be disappointed here and there are no big surprises either. HAVUKRUUNU has simply perfected what they do best and recorded a damn masterpiece. www.facebook.com/havukruunu, www.facebook.com/svartrecords