Reviewed by Greg Sammons

I remember at the start of 2005 hearing that the next big sub-metal genre to hit our ears was to be folk metal, full on metal but with influences from the cultural musical history of the band's country of origin. For our Scandinavian and Celtic friends, that is something we can all relish but for good old England, it would probably just end up sounding like a bunch of bikers ransacking a Morris dancing convention! I've yet to see much of this new buzz scene, a derivative of the more established Viking metal genre, but now the Christian alt scene can claim one of their own, Holy Blood. Holy Blood hail from Ukraine, and their sound reminds me of the European black metal scene but with nods to power, Viking and folk metal. Clear influences come from the Scandinavian black bands with fast, melodic guitars and keys mixed in with quick, rapid picking and extreme black metal vocals. At times I get the feeling of being among Vikings preparing for war, and to some extent this is true as themes of spiritual war play strong. Stemming from a scene that has many Satanist bands, this is the only way they can stand up strong as a Christian band. The lyrics talk about how we as Christians must take up our armour so we can fight the battle against Satan and be victorious warriors in the army of God. Interestingly my favourite songs are the first and last tracks (excluding intros and outros), and the middle track "I Flow Towards The Fate", giving the album a solid backbone.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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