Apparently some fans haven’t been happy with the quality of Wyrd’s recent albums, and “Kalivägi” was supposed to bridge the gap between the band’s newer, doomy sound and the older pagan metal style of albums like “Heathen” and “Huldrafolk”. I’m not overly familiar with Wyrd’s back catalogue so I can’t really comment on where the new album fits in. From the perspective of someone who isn’t influenced by Wyrd’s earlier works though, “Kalivägi” is a pretty decent, though not overly complex, folk black metal album.

The most notable aspect of Wyrd’s sound on “Kalivägi” is the contrast between the folky, melodic songwriting and the rough, guttural vocals which are the most obvious reminder that Wyrd once played pagan black metal. Rhythmically, the music takes a fairly simplistic, more rock-oriented approach, with drumming that is pretty basic. Most of the songs feature very folk-influenced, almost catchy melodies, and the band makes liberal use of keyboards to create additional atmosphere and enhance the melodies.

Vocalist Narqath’s ugly, guttural rasping adds a unique effect to the overall sound. It doesn’t exactly complement the music the way that deep, growled vocals in doom bands often do. Instead, the vocal’s are often at odds with the rest of the band, providing an agressive, jarring layer on top of the melodies. Narqath does not exclusively stick to atonal growls, sometimes making use of clean vocals or rough ’singing,’ but his vocals are effective at providing another dimension to the band’s sound, sometimes augmenting and sometimes diminishing the rest of the band’s melodic elements.

One of the things I’ve noticed about this album is that because of a combination of things like the pacing, the relatively catchy, rock-oriented nature of the songwriting and the fact that there are only six tracks, you get tired of it fairly quickly. That’s not to say that the album is bad, but it’s just not the kind that takes a lot of time to appreciate. It’s very easy to digest and it has some great aggressive melodic sections. I think that after a few listens most fans of this type of music would enjoy it.

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