Thursday, November 12, 2009

The Moon and the Nightspirit - Ösforrás (2009)

Ösforrás is the third album from Hungary's The Moon and the Nightspirit, and, while not technically a metal band, are the perfect compliment to fans of the pagan and folk elements commonly found in metal. This one is a solid follow-up to 2007s Regõ Rejtem: a must for fans of that album.

Comparatively I found this album to be stronger overall than the previous album; however, it lacks the bombastic intro track featured in Regõ Rejtem. This one starts slowly and doesn't start to pick up until the third song and title track. It's a bit more subdued though. The strong male vocals from Mihaly Szabo are less common. Ösforrás is the Agnes Toth show. Not that this is a bad thing. Her voice is just as captivating here as it was on the last album.

There is a lot of compelling instrumental work here. The plucky intro to "Fenybe Tero" for example is the perfect thing to establish an album whose lyrics are rooted in the mystical qualities of the great forests of old. The last song (not counting the bonus track) "Foldanya Sohaja" is a little weak. However the two tracks that lead up to that, "Hetvilag and Alkonyvarazs" suitably evoke the image of let's get around a campfire and bitch about civilization. I find it to be all in good fun.

Bottom line: if you liked the last one get this. If you've never heard it, then get them both!

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.themoon.equilibriummusic.com/tmnews.php3

1 comment:

Rhan said...

I actually got this cd a while ago, but I have yet to listen to it more. I spun it through maybe once, and liked what I heard. More of the same, which is not a bad thing at all.