Fenrir
Loki’s Slaughter
Release Date: 2 April 2016
Review by Gary Grim
For Sydney’s neo-classical speed metallers, Fenrir, their debut album, Loki’s Slaughter, has been a long time coming. This album has been in the works a quite a while with the band facing many challenges on the path to its completion but, upon listening to the end result, it was certainly worth the wait.
Within almost every song on Loki’s Slaughter you will hear epic tales ripped from the pages of Norse mythology and presented in a captivating way with a powerful vocal delivery. Sure, you’ve heard bands sing about Vikings and Norse gods before but, personally, I’ve never heard these stories told with such depth, understanding of the characters and their motivations as well as a passion for the tales themselves that shines through in every song. All of this is backed by a solid, grandiose and downright HEAVY soundtrack. The drums are blisteringly fast, the riffs and solos are memorable, catchy as well as complex and the flute lends an extra dimension to these songs that suits their subject matters perfectly.
Fans of power metal, speed/trash metal, the flute and epic sagas will find a lot to enjoy here. I will not be surprised if Loki’s Slaughter brings this band worldwide attention and success. With all the work that went into this album of beautifully crafted songs, Fenrir sure do deserve it.