Windfaerer has successfully “Jersey turnpiked” epic/folk metal onTribus. Such an utterance is made because not only is the band from New Jersey (land of Bon Jovi and Tony Soprano), but their effective, instantly memorable take on the above-mentioned style makes Tribus an album worthy of a full investigation, in spite of the band’s current unsigned nature. Unsigned bands usually have more pep to ‘em anyway…
Created in an effort to pay homage to mainman Mike Goncalves’s Luso-Hispanic heritage, Windfaerer’s compositions have a deft degree of authentic melodies to them, most notably on album opener (and definite standout) “These Walls (Frozen In Time).” Right in line with the recent works of Ensiferum, “These Walls (Frozen In Time)” has all of the epic/folk metal staples right in onesong, and it successfully launches the album into full gear.
Subsequent jams like “A Gentle Touch Upon Ravaged Wounds” and the mournful “Oestriminis” are chalk-full of powerful melodies, especially the latter, which may be the beefiest song of the bunch. As expected, some uniformity creeps in with the band’s melody choices, but that’s all dashed on “A Beautiful Death,” a song that reminds of the power-folk angle of Elvenking, minus the cleansinging, of course. Either way, it’s another charming number.
With little or next to nothing to draw from in terms of North American epic/folk metal (we’re drawing a blank, sorry), Windfaerer emerge as one of the more promising acts to hit the boards of late. Tribus isn’t an earth-shaker like the masterworks of Suidakra or Ensiferum, but they’ve made significant headway here, and once people get around the fact they’re from Jersey (consider it removed from our head), then the name “Windfaerer” could be buzzing around quite a bit in the near future.
(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)