Harpyie
Blutbann

Harpyie is an interesting band that we have written positively about before here at the Hallowed website, and now we are checking out their new album Blutbann. It is an album with a dramatic looking cover, perhaps something to add to the vinyl collection. I read that the themes are love, death, fear, vampires, murderers, ghosts, and those kinds of things, in the vein of Edgar Allen Poe it is suggested. Perhaps it is true, but what is more interesting is that I read about the band evolving etc, though that is usually just sales pitches to trick some reviewers into thinking they hear something different when they are not. But they have replaced the violin with a hurdy gurdy, that should give an edgier sound.

It is the same folk metal that we have heard before, the changing from vinyl to hurdy gurdy isn’t making much difference. The style is familiar to all who have heard the band before, I don’t think it is any different from Minnewar or Aurora that I have reviewed for Hallowed before. The vocalist is the same folkish guy, the sound is the same, perhaps it has a slight rougher and edgier sound than the previous album, but not much. The tracks should have been ten rather than a dozen as I find myself thinking that it is too long, two tracks should have gone away to make it straighter to the point.

I still enjoy the German lyrics and that sort of touch, but in the end I don’t think this gives me the sense of novelty I want from a new album. I find myself not really paying that much attention as it is less captivating than Aurora or Minnewar. Sure it is good, accessible, pretty enjoyable, and if you like what they have done before you will like this one as well, there isn’t really any difference. Harpyie keeps delivering solid folk metal albums in German, that is a direction that is less explored than the most common stuff, and that makes this album more interesting than several of the albums released now – but when considering what they have done before it isn’t that exciting.

Another solid effort from Harpyie, but perhaps I already had enough of their albums and they need to renew themselves if they are to make something I find interesting in the future. They make it too much like they have already done, and the novelty is missing, without novelty most albums are a bit dull.

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