The land of folk metal is something that can seem just as vast as it can feel almost uninspired in many unfortunate instances. It can be very easy for a band that wants to walk through the realm of folk metal to sound exceedingly boring or uninspired as you can tell they don’t really put their hearts into or they don’t try making something fantastical that fits such a sprawling style. It’s every now and then that we need a good reminder as to just how awesome the style can be at times, and it’s here that Baldrs Draumar presents just such a work to us in glorious heaps.

I’m not going to sit here and try to tell you that this is some of the most grandiose folk metal that I’ve ever heard as the likes of Whispered, Wilderun, Sojourner, and others hold that title in my mind, but to say that Baldrs Draumar doesn’t do a damned good job with their latest work would be a straight-up insult the likes of which I’d expect them to fight over given how awesome this fucking record is. “Magnus” is very much an album that’s worth much more than its own salt, and you could pick any track from it to show clear as day that Baldrs Draumar knows their way around the style as well as how to execute it gloriously! Aside from the fact that the entirety of this work is sung in the band’s native language of Frisian the likes of which I’ll never have any hope whatsoever of understanding, but I feel that makes “Magnus” all the more excellent in its fantastical roots as it provides folk metal with that grand sense of adventure and high fantasy the likes of which we don’t get often enough. It’s in each track that Baldrs Draumar knows exactly how to provide the exact sort of material that fans of the style are constantly clamoring for, and it’s no stretch of the imagination to see and say that they pulled it off with stunning potency. After multiple albums, it wouldn’t be hard to say that “Magnus” is the product of many years of honing their craft, but I firmly believe that Baldrs Draumar has long had this quality and it’s here with this album that it’s come to a clear pinnacle such that we’re constantly basking in its unending glory as each song progresses with unyielding melody, untouchable ferocity, grand musicianship, and awesome instrumentation that folk metal is all but famous for.

Whether they intended to or not, Baldrs Draumar has made a damned good effort with this album and it becomes clearer the longer you’re in this record just how tremendous it exactly is from beginning to end. “Magnus” has got so much of what the style both needs and deserves, and it’s at every turn that this act does no less than absolutely impress.

LISTEN to “Magnus” via Spotify here.

LIKE Baldrs Draumar on Facebook here.