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I would like to enjoy Folkearth's music so much more than I do, but it seems like the band reached their peak in 2006 with By the Sword of my Father, never to come back with another thrilling album afterwards. I don't think the problem resides in the lack of talent as such, but more in the time given between each output, and maybe a bit of variation would come in handy too.

Fatherland is the third album Folkearth released in 2008, mostly responsible for that lack of sparks, flame, inspiration etc… This is beside the two albums done with their side project, Folkodia. I saw recently that a new album just came out, and I'm afraid I'll be disappointed once again. Most of the time, it's the recognizable vocals of Erio taking the lead role for the male parts, while Hildr handles the female counterparts. That could use a bit of variation, and the tonalities of Hildr are sometimes stressful and ear-piercing. Some nice harsher tones are used once in a while, which is nice actually. Another difficulty I'm having with this album is concerning the heavier/faster parts, where the sound turns muddy at times. All is not lost and good things also happen on this disc. Fatherland is still a melodic piece of Viking Metal with a nice folksy edge. Classical guitars, flute, percussions and violins really bring the folkloric vibe up a notch higher, much to my Viking and selfish pleasure. I believe those elements should be increased in the future.

If the band can concentrate in polishing their compositions a bit more, as well as giving the album a proper production time, a much pleasant album could be foreseeable. My overall favorite composition is the title track.