Netherfell – Between East and West

Uff, this is one of those frustrating instances where you have to hand out a rating, which is actually lower than what you’d like to dish out.

First a bit of background: Netherfell from Krakow in Poland play folk metal and have done so since 2008. They’ve been around and shared stages with other folk metal outfits like Alestorm, Arkona and Dalriada, and they released an EP a couple of years ago. So far, so good.

I really like the dynamics of this lot’s music. In many ways it’s like In Extremo and Cruachan, however also with a female vocalist (Adrianna who also plays the fiddle and flute). She has a wonderful voice for this genre – what she does hits right home.

In general, the multi-facetted mix of punkish heavy metal and dudelsack, tin whistles, fiddle and flute works excellently in Netherfell’s rendition of folk metal (a genre which has many unfortunate existences).

So, dear reviewer, what is wrong?

I’ll tell you what: The male vocals are horrible. The predominate vocal on ‘Between East and West’ is not a growl, not a clean vocal, but somewhere in between. It’s got a wrong pitch, a wrong…aaaargh, dunno, sounds like a barking dog, but the wrong way (unlike Martin Walkyier who also sounds like a barking dog sometimes – but the RIGHT way!). It’s just really annoying, alright.

For all the fine details and power of the music, this barking dog makes me want to turn the whole thing off. A bit of a shame, that, really.

Tracklist:
1. Rozdroża (intro)
2. Upiór Kurhanu
3. Ku płodnym ziemiom
4. Kruk
5. Światło i Cień
6. The Gathering (intro)
7. The Highlander
8. Las umarłych
9. Kónik zmók i jo zmók
10. Mice Tower
11. Cross of the Sun
12. Dreamcatcher
13. Mokosz

Playing time: 48 minutes

Release date: 10th of October, 2015

Label: Noizgate Records

Website: facebook.com/Netherfell