Last month Vince rightly sang Moonsorrow’s praises and told y’all to get excited about their new album, Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa, which the always-reliable scholars at Wikipedia tell me means “As shadows we walk in the land of the dead.” Maybe it loses something in translation.

ANYWAY, the album is now streaming in full right here. A team of MetalSucks Mansion Monkeys are doing some very loud construction in the Rosenberg Wing this morning, which means I can’t listen to it, but based on what we’ve already heard, I’m gonna go out on a limb and tell you it’s good. Feel free to tell me I’m wrong in the comments section… as though any of you ever needed permission to tell me I’m wrong about something.

Spinefarm will release Title Too Long and Foreign to Keep Typing on February 21 in Finland, and a month later in the UK, with no planned North American release as of yet… because apparently these people didn’t read Vince’s article on the importance of worldwide day-and-date releases in 2011.

-AR

Moonsorrow are one of the very few folk/pagan/whatever bands on the planet worth caring about, in no small part because they “prefer their folk metal to be serious,” as astutely noted by GroverXIII at The Number of The Blog. So how is it possible that Moonsorrow have a new album coming out — next month, no less — and no one is talking about it???

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The MetalSucks-sponsored Finnish Metal Tour 2010 is currently winding its way across North America, having stopped at New York City’s Gramercy Theater last Thursday on the third night of the tour. You pretty much know what you’re gonna get with bands like Finntroll, Moonsorrow and Swallow the Sun — epic fucking metal. And epic it was.

My chronological but otherwise disorganized thoughts on the concert:

• Swallow the Sun’s keyboard player is so serious. That guy rules.
• How do Swallow the Sun afford to tour the States so often?
• Holy shit… Swallow the Sun’s keyboard player rules so hard. Most metal stage faces I’ve ever seen.
• Is that dude in the audience wearing a loincloth? Yes… yes, he is.
• This is the best I’ve heard Swallow the Sun sound in the three times I’ve seen them.
• So when can we meet and hang out with Swallow the Sun’s keyboard player? I wanna shoot heroin and talk about the meaninglessness of life with this dude.
• Moonsorrow sound pretty good, but they were better at Paganfest II last year (where they blew every other band away).

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I’ve been advocating videos that don’t actually feature the band – particularly animated ones – for some time now. It’s come to my attention that there are a number of reasons why we don’t see these more often. Still, from a creative stand point at least, I’m convinced that they’re often the way to go.

Case in point: Finntroll’s new video for the song “Under Bergets Rot,” which debuted on Bloody Disgusting this morning. Sure, the animation isn’t the best in the world, but it looks cool, it has the right vibe for the song, and it makes you feel like you’re not watching something you’ve seen ten trillion times before.

The song comes off the band’s latest album, Nifelvind, which is out now on Century. And don’t forget that Finntroll are headlining the MetalSucks-sponsored Finnish Metal Tour 2010 with special guests Moonsorrow and Swallow the Sun – it kicks off tomorrow!!! Get dates here.

-AR

Finntroll, Moonsorrow and Swallow the Sun are coming to the U.S. and Canada. That alone gives us goosebumps. That the tour starts next week and hits NYC the day after Opeth’s Blackwater Park commemorative concert gives our collective nipples the ability to cut glass. Those two days are going to be absolutely epic… and we’re going to have wicked weed hangovers when they’re all over.

Unfortunately Survivors Zero had to drop off this tour due to visa issues. Nothing against them, but that really doesn’t affect how great this night will be; I dug what I heard of their music though, so hopefully they’ll be able to make it over here soon.

Find a full list of dates for the MetalSucks-sponsored Finnish Metal Tour 2010 after the jump.

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When I wrote an article in the wintry depths of December proclaiming Finnish melo-doomsters Barren Earth “Metal to Be Really, Really Cold To” and likened their dark, epic music to bands like Swallow the Sun (among others), I didn’t even realize that the genetic makeup of Barren Earth essentially makes them a melo-doom supergroup. For those filling out their roster cards in the stands, here’s the starting lineup:

Mikko Kotamäki – Vocals (Swallow The Sun)
Olli-Pekka Laine – Bass (Ex-Amorphis, Mannhai)
Kasper Mårtenson – Keyboards (Ex-Amorphis, Ben Granfelt Band)
Janne Perttilä – Guitar (Rytmihäiriö)
Marko Tarvonen – Drums (Moonsorrow)
Sami Ylisirniö – Guitar (Kreator, Waltari)

I mean, like, WOAH, right? Barren Earth’s Our Twilight EP, released this past fall, was a dark and doomy affair reminiscent of Swallow the Sun (duh), Agalloch, Daylight Dies and you know exactly what I mean if you’ve made it this far into the article. On the eve of the release of their new full-length, Curse of the Red River (March 29th in Europe, April 6th in the U.S.), Barren Earth have offered us an exclusive stream of their new track “The Leer.” Both this track and “Forlorn Waves” (available on their MySpace) are a bit more uptempo than the material on Our Twilight but no less characteristic of the parts from which the band is comprised.

Stream “The Leer” below and pre-order the new album here.

[this promotion has ended]

Finland is the new Sweden. Or the new black. Or something.

The Finnish Metal Tour, featuring Finntroll, Moonsorrow, Swallow the Sun and Survivors Zero was announced this past December, at which point our nipples instantly became hard. But now we’ve been asked on as an official sponsor and hey, lookee at that, our logo’s at the top of this here tour poster all fancy-lookin’ and shit!

We’ve yet to see Finntroll live but MS Uber-Suckalo groverXIII loooooooves this band and the dude generally has good taste, so we’ll have to trust him. Moonsorrow completely annihilated New York when they came through as part of the second Paganfest tour last year, and even though they weren’t the headliners they were easily the stand-out band on that bill. Swallow the Sun are Swallow the motherfucking Sun, always epic, always awesome. And we haven’t heard of Survivors Zero yet, but I’m listening to their MySpace page now and I really like what I’m hearing. This is definitely one of the most exciting tour lineups of Spring 2010.

Stream the new Finntroll track at Metal Insider then check out the full list of tour dates after the jump.

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I know I’m probably not supposed to say this, given that we co-sponsored the tour and all, but Moonsorrow blew every other band off the stage at this year’s Paganfest. And they had the best merch. Did anyone else get one of those shirts with the viking ship sailing away from a burning Statue of Liberty? One day I will wear that shirt around Corpus Christi, Texas. Fuck yes.

Metal Injection, with whom we frequently spoon, have done what they always do, which is captured some sick video footage of the band in question raping and pillaging at Paganfest earlier this year. I’ve posted one clip below; you can check out another here.

Also worth checking out: Metal Injection Israeli Station Chief Noa’s interview with Moonsorrow’s Ville Sorvali, where he does, in fact, answer the question set forth in my headline.

-AR

Is it already that time of year? Holy shit, it is! The second annual run of the MetalSucks-sponsored Paganfest USA tour kicks off tomorrow in Toronto and runs through May 18th all over the U.S. and Canada! This is huge news for the following reasons:

1. You finally get to dust off that old viking helmet that’s been lying around since last year’s Paganfest.
2. You get to drink lots of beer, repeatedly pump your fist in the air and yell “hey!,” and generally act like an asshole at a concert without feeling bad about it.
3. You get to see this year’s lineup of ridiculously awesome pagan metal bands: Korpiklaani, Primordial, Moonsoorow, Blackguard and Swashbuckle.
4. Last year’s Paganfest was the most fun we had at a show all year; for serious!

We’ll be at the New York date on Monday, May 4th at Irving Plaza. Brownie points to anyone who dresses up in warpaint and loincloths. Bonus: after the jump, check out the chill-inducing Metal Injection-filmed live footage of Turisas performing “Rasputin” at last year’s Paganfest.

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We’re big fans of pagan metal here at the MS Mansion. BIG fans. Just last night Sammy O’Hagar waltzed in at about 5pm, still drunk and rowdy from the night before (!), dressed in a full get-up of warpaint and animal skins. Obviously there was no other choice at that point but to hand over control of the MS Mansion Mothership to the capable hands of the monkeys, so we put on Turisas’ The Varangian Way and started the party right back up again for the ol’ chap; the freight train kept rolling until at least 4am. Last thing I remember is Kip jumping on top of Axl’s desk and screaming something about “Battle!” and how we need to take vengeance against the other metal websites that constantly rip us off. As I type this, Sammy’s passed out in the bathtub clutching a bottle of Jim Beam while DBR and Satan Rosenbloom are snuggling in my bed; I had to sleep on the couch. Those fucking assholes.

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The second annual run of the MetalSucks-approved Paganfest USA tour — which one month ago announced it would include Primordial, Eluveitie, Moonsorrow and Blackguard (formerly Profugus Mortis) — has now announced the final lineup. Finnish folk-metallers Korpiklaani, whom to Kip W.’s dismay I once described as “Tetris metal,” will round out the bill along with New Jersey’s own Swashbuckle. If you can’t closely guess what a band called Swashbuckle might sound like, I suggest you get that eyepatch adjusted.

For more info check out the official Paganfest USA MySpace page. Dates are still TBA. Also check out the MySpace pages of Korpiklaani and Swashbuckle to dabble in the pagan/folk metal awesomeness.

-VN

I don’t know about you kids, but the inaugural run of Paganfest USA was the most fun I had at a show all year in 2008. Turisas, Ensiferum, Eluveitie and Tyr absolutely killed it, and the entire room was pumping their fists in the air to every song. And, oh yeah, we drank copious amounts of booze. My only regret: I didn’t wear a Viking costume.

Fortunately for me and my Viking gear, Paganfest USA will live on in 2009! Dates have yet to be announced, but the 2k9 incarnation will include Primordial, Eluveitie, Moonsorrow and Blackguard. See you there!

-VN

I’m not really sure how the entirely acoustic music peddled by Ottawa’s Musk Ox could be considered metal… but yet, somehow, it unmistakably is. Musk Ox, whose self-titled Absurdist Records debut drops January 19th, beg the age-old question of what actually defines metal. Is it distorted guitars? If you answered “yes” then you’d have to bar similar bands like Agalloch and Daylight Dies from admission to the metal pantheon, yet surely this is not something you want to do. Like those bands are wont to do, Musk Ox pluck out neo-classical melodies on their acoustic guitars augmented by rainy-day strings to create a gloomy, dark landscape of desperation and despair that just screams metal, even despite the lack of distortion, drums or words. This is the kind of metal brutal Canadian winters must be made of.

-VN

I am currently in the midst of a signing tour for my latest book, PURE MURDER. Nothing helps me keep my sanity more when I am on the road paying outrageous sums of money for gas, dealing with complete fucking morons behind the wheel, and trudging through Texas-sized traffic jams than listening to heavy metal at full volume.

Here are some quick reviews of some of the metal I cranked on my recent trip to Houston for a booksigning, and then to Huntsville for the execution of one of the killers from my book.

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I’m no expert on folk metal band Moonsorrow, but I do this know much: their latest release, last year’s V – Hävitetty, is killer (read my mini-review here – the album is only two dollars on iTunes!), and they’re a Nazi band like this site is a polka blog.

But I guess some people actually do think Moonsorrow are a bunch of fascist fuckheads, ’cause front man Ville Sorvali just released the following statement:

“We, Moonsorrow, have come across news that Antifa wishes to prevent our concert in Berlin on April 17th. We hereby announce that we are not a Nazi band… Some have said that Moonsorrow have an SS rune in their logo… The S in the logo is not intended to look like an SS rune, it has been drawn in an angular manner to suit the logos other letters.”

This is just plain ri-fucking-diculous. Does the letter “s” in the Moonsorrow logo (above) look any more or less like the SS logo than the double-S in the Kiss logo? (I understand that we know Kiss isn’t a Nazi band because its two most prominent members are Jews – hel-lo, Mr. Chaim Witz – but sheesh.) For that matter, how come no one made a stink when other bands – like Marilyn Manson and Faster Pussycat – appropriated the SS font for their own logos?

This is just dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb. And I strongly encourage Moonsorrow fans everywhere – especially German ones – make the biggest stink about it possible.

-AR