Avven
Kastalija

Sloven band Avven just recently sent me their second album Kastalija which was released last year. They seem to be a band obsessed with symbolism having band members with names like Sparrow or Soul in irish gaelic but also the band name Avven being being a slightly tailored version of welch word Awen which means “poetic inspiration”, the name of the album comes from the greek mythology and means “a source of inspiration” so it should be one inspired album, wouldn’t you say? The album cover doesn’t really reveal much being rather neutral but from the positive reviews I have found around the web I can conclude that they think it is folk metal, which is how they presented themselves when they mailed me around a month ago.

Undoubtably an interesting prospect considering the fact that I like folk metal and also metal/rock music sung in obscure languages like german, french, swedish, or as in this case their native tongue albeit they double a little in english in one of the tracks just to add some familiarity I guess. It is melodic and catchy, folk music meets metal and all of that. In difference to most other bands in the genre they do not rely on growls and such but the male vocals are clean for the entire album and they are completed by some female vocals just to add more depth I suppose. It is catchy on the edge of being ridiculous at times but the songs are easy to take in and remember, it is not particularly heavy but has a very polished production that seems geared towards being catchy and folkish which it is. The album is not really long either with a playing time just short of 37 minutes and ten tracks that shows a fair bit of variation within the frame set for this album.

I felt this album was an exciting prospect from the moment it was sent to me and I was right in that expectation as I really enjoyed listening to this album. Albums like these are a remembrance of why I am writing and doing all this work as it is a great album just coming out of nowhere and it is those unexpected flashes of greatness that makes it all worth the effort in the end. A track like opening Zmaji is just brilliant and there’s more brilliance on this album. In a way it reminds me a bit of german band Nachtgeschrei, they are similar in style and they both sings in a language hardly anyone uses and they make fascinating music blending the two very different musical styles together. So catchiness, decent variation and a playing time not too long makes this an album to play over and over.

Sure there’s a bit room for improvements, I would have liked to see a bit more dynamics in the songs but I would also have liked to see them breaking a bit of new ground with their songs, to hear something that feels a bit new. Also, it would have been nice with a bit more of a real catchy hit song that just grabs you when you hear it, so a bit of room for improving is never wrong I would say as it gives you hope for something really interesting in the future. Thing is though that these small niggles doesn’t really mean much in the long run as the album is a great one and also one exciting and if you like folk metal it feels like a must have. But even if you don’t really are into folk metal it is an album well worth lending an ear or two.