One of the many allures of metal for many of us who listen to it is how fucking epic the music can become, and some people take both the sound and the setting to epic places with folk metal. Hell, that’s one reason why I love folk metal! But what happens when someone sees folk metal and decides to crank the epicness up three million percent? You get Antti Martikainen who’s a Finnish composer who has created many great pieces that are clearly inspired by folk metal, but his new opus of “Northern Steel” takes the fucking cake!

If the name of Antti Martikainen sounds even remotely familiar to you, then good! This man has been very active in late years as he’s brought together very, very impressive compositions and albums of epic proportions. From high fantasy settings to even pirates, there’s no territory that Antti Martikainen doesn’t tread without venturing far from folk metal. With his brand new collection of symphonies titled “Northern Steel”, Martikainen tackles the frozen north of the unrelenting Vikings in nine tracks that are glorious displays of musical genius spread out over a very entrancing 110 minutes that don’t disappoint for a moment. What is it about Vikings that makes them so cool? The battles? The myths? The legendary names? The unfathomable amounts of mead?! “Northern Steel” takes all of those along with so much more and smashes it all together into this beautiful orchestration that brings in every single element of an orchestra plus more to create a wholly unique experience that’s as if folk metal was on fucking steroids! Martikainen shows with masterful display a grandiose sense of style, an immaculate way of guiding the orchestra through each symphony of pure glory, and a straight perfect execution the likes of which shows that this man is not only born to be a composer but also one that’s set to be a modern legend if he fucking isn’t already. “Northern Steel” from start to finish brings to life everything people love about fantasy tales of Viking manifests into almost two hours of music the likes of which has no equal, and likely never will! Unless Martikainen tops himself yet again, that is.

Never before did I dare once think that folk metal could be amplified into anything this fucking epic much less brought to life through an incredibly well-crafted orchestra. It’s truly over-the-top and a performance which cannot go unnoticed as Martikainen is a true mastermind of his kind and one that shouldn’t be ignored. “Northern Steel” is absolute glory as metal meets orchestration in ways many of us never dared to imagine.

LISTEN to “Northern Steel” on Bandcamp here.

BUY “Northern Steel” via iTunes here.

LIKE Antti Martikainen on Facebook here.