Poland is known for many good bands such as Behemoth, Vader and Decapitated. Most of the Polish scene is however known for death and black metal, hence it’s a nice fresh breeze to get a band from Poland that mixes pagan, black and folk in Helroth. I, Pagan is the bands debut album after releasing the EP Wataha in 2013. Helroth was formed in Warsaw 2012 with the foundation coming from the band Vecordia and consists of seven (!) members, having a wide range of instruments in their lineup.

Pagan Gods, tales of old legends and a lot of atmospheric folk music is on the agenda in I, Pagan. Most of the lyrics are sung in Polish, but don’t you worry, you will have a great experience anyway purely going by the folk atmosphere and instrumental play (there are a few pure instrumental tracks too) even if you don’t understand the words. Plus the fact I love Orthank lead vocals (who reminds me a lot of Ville Seponpoika Sorvali from Moonsorrow at times) and Marchew backing him up with her beautiful voice. A great combo.

The whole album screams of the old pagan ways and while listening to this you will want to be in a forest cabin drinking beer (or mead) and just take it all in. Great debut from Helroth and a pleasant surprise I got from my Spotify weekly (again!). I, Pagan is out now by Art of the Night Productions.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Helroth

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/HelrothOfficial

For fans of: Huldre and Merkfolk

Favorite song: Pasterz chmur