Weh - Folkloren FLAC

Weh - Folkloren [Soulseller Rec., 2013]
★★★★★★★★☆☆ (8/10)
A small (40:15 min), tranquil, unspectacular and therefore insignificant Album one might think. Far from it. Several other Neofolk bards could take a leaf out of his book, considering the vocal and musical talent by Norwegian Erik Evju. A One-man project, released on the Dutch 'Soulseller' Metal label. Since the protagonist stems from the metal genre it seems obvious to have chosen it, on the other hand he will find it hard to compete with the recorded Dark Folk/Neofolk. Incompatible with those 'metal heads' for sure.

To my taste the best tracks on the album are: "Every Leaf And Branch Will Tremble", "I Let The Night Cover Me" and "Long Days Of Winter". Erik accentuates his acoustic guitar play only very slightly by keyboard, piano or violin, he abstains from percussions, what seems correct when listening to his sound. The vocal tracks are multiplied in the editing process, so the CD never becomes dreary. 'Less is more', what rarely is true, 'cos here the real top-notcher shows off. Every mishap is unforgiving, while playing this pure sound. But he is absolutely flawless. As mentioned above, he leaves some other genre colleagues in the dust by "Folkloren". His warm intimate voice carries it entirely. The 11 years of artistic experience are felt instantaneously.

Like on the last album "En Natt Kom Doed", Norwegian and English lyrics are alternating. The whole material sounds very pleasant, but at no point arbitrary. After a double compilation in 2010, where early recordings are gathered, this is the third album to date. I hope many other subtle works will follow suit.