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Although Folkearth came up with two albums this year already, some of its members joined force with artist from acts like Cruachan, Hildr Valkyrie, Dol Amroth and others to form Folkodia. This gives us a chance, fans of the Folk/Viking genre, to discover and enjoy the work of various creators hailing from such countries as Greece, France, United States, Ireland, Italy and England. I was glad, once again, to find out the Forefathers were not involved, but sad to see that Magnus Wohlfart, from Yggdrasil, not part of this project.

Folkodia is pretty similar to Folkearth, but it sounds somewhat rawer. The Voice of Hildr is more present too. Another aspect of this band is the absence of a real drummer. Instead, French multi-instrumentalist Loki (electric guitar, keyboards and vocals) did the drum programming, with a rather realistic result. He and Swiss Simon Mucler (electric and acoustic guitars, flute, bass and tin whistle) took care of composing the music, while Greek author Marios Koutsoukos and Lithuanian Metfolvik wrote the lyrics. Various female and vocal styles were recorded on this release, from operatic to rasps, as well as folksy and epic chants to suit the mood of the compositions. I found the heavier and faster songs somewhat blurred, but the calmer/folksy passages much more focused, and of course, quite enjoyable. Examples of this are these great songs: "Thus a Viking Dies", "Into Battle", "The Swords of King Harald III" and the exquisite and all acoustic "In the Realm of Manannan". Some organic instruments were used to create a more epic feel, like: flutes, degger pipes, violins and whistles.

Odes From the Past is a pretty nice offering from an international horde of Folk/Viking souls.