Review for the latest EP from, Norwald, titled, The Spark OF Freedom, available right here!
The forges flames burn high into the night sky with haste. The hammers clamor amongst the anvils, striking with precision, the time is drawing near and there's an electricity in the air. Urgently the forces form and solidify their battle plans as the ever growing threat looms nearer. But it is within these dark moments where in the hearts of the warrior we truly find strength and courage, testing ones will down to the bone. A soul freezing shiver blankets the landscape as the enemy encroaches, this is the moment in which a true warrior shines, because, after all, what is a true warrior without truly being tested? And thus we begin our adventure into the musical realms of the fantasy themed melodic power metallers known as, Norwald. Hailing from Spain, Norwald blend tried and true power metal flair with heavy orchestration, combining powerful female vocals blending with beautiful female vocals, and strong clean male vocals, all in a mixture of fantastical music that they paint upon their mythical canvas. Often times musically gorgeous while other moments, Norwald come in swinging their mighty blade with ferocious riffs keeping the flame of heavy metal held up high for all to see within the shadows of the night, we have been blessed with a new EP that continues their story driven mythos within the music that they create with their latest EP, The Spark Of Freedom. So grab a flagon of Ale and listen as their story unfolds as we venture into the tales that have been spun from the metal bards, Norwald!
This tale begins with the opening track, Nekaroth, The Undefeated. A hefty slab of metal riffing kicks this one in to high gear. The velocity of the guitar and drum attack as the song literally feels like you're galloping into battle with forces unknown, which the orchestration lends a great hand in doing so with the eerie and powerful ways that it weaves in and out of the riffs. This is some top notch stuff here. Some of the moments downright felt like classically written pieces of music alongside a full on film score, delivering a grand vision of the battle playing out before your eyes with this music, it really does make for quite a intense and exhilarating experience that will definitely make you raise your steel and want to charge in to battle with just about anything that stands before you, bravo, Norwald, bravo!
The Island Of Airlevan is up next and we are treated with a classic thrasher of a song. The riffs come at you fast in this song so buckle up for the ride. A more positive feeling vibe of hope can be felt within the melodies of this track as the music keeps a steady beat and quick pace throughout. The mid song break down accompanies a fantastic musical movement that seamlessly changes not only the overall mood of the song but the pacing as well in a expertly crafted musical move before bringing in the big blades and delivering the final blow. The fluidity of this track is quite impressive as the music and riffs come together as one unit without feeling out of place or forced, which oftentimes is the case sadly with music such as this. Fortunately however, Norwald seems to know their way around the fret board and craft their music in such a way that you'd think it was some sort of witches brew causing you to be under their musical spell.
A epic opening hits you immediately as the beginning of One Last Effort comes in full force as the next track on this warriors journey continues. I highly recommend listening to all of these songs with headphones, I really do, your goosebumps will be mighty as your hairs stand at attention with the powerful riffs and orchestration highlighting the emotion and power of these songs, and One Last Effort is an exceptionally powerful example of Norwalds ability to harness said emotions and forge them into their music masterfully. The music here is rich in passion and completely sucks you in the entire way through, you really feel the meaning behind the lyrics as Norwald's story telling unfolds track by track on this EP. Excellent song structure on One Last Effort, it was a great listen.
The choir comes in hot and heavy while the orchestra punishes you in a overpowering display of might right before an evil as all hell of a guitar riff opens up in the next track, The Tyrant. This song has a very unique feel to it compared to the other tracks, you can feel a sense of despair and wickedness emanating from each note in this song which makes it feel oppressively dark and heavy. The guitars blend right in with the orchestration as the vocals allow for a creepy yet beautiful feel that washes over you. The energy though is still cranked up to an 11 with the overall riffing and pacing of the song itself, it just FEELS wicked as you listen to the overall presentation of The Tyrant. This one might be my personal favorite out of all of the songs from The Spark Of Freedom just out of how uniquely heavy this song is with not only it's riffs and song writing, but the intensity of the evil vibes that pulsate from each note played.
The Title track, The Spark Of Freedom closes out this wild ride from Norwald. Like a final scene from a movie or the last words from your favorite book, The Spark Of Freedom felt like a perfect ending to this quest. Yet, it also left me wanting more and feeling like this adventure wasn't quite yet over. With heavy riffs that give an amazing sense of being ready for whatever comes your way, as your very being is summoned to this final moment and victory is the only outcome you will accept, this song left it all on a high note, the energy is intense and truly encapsulates the overall feeling of this EP in a nutshell. With excellent riffs, top notch vocal performances, powerful orchestration, this song has everything that Norwald could possibly pack in to this nearly 7 minute epic as humanly possible. If this song were a call to arms, then I'd definitely be on the front lines.
As the fog of war fades and the music comes to an end for this release, I can confidently state that this new release from Norwald is a solid continuation of their previous album, Madness And Heroes, but it feels almost like a slight step up in intensity and overall focus on The Spark Of Freedom. Norwald has proven that they aren't just another face in the crowd with this new EP and commands the forces of metal at their beck and call. The production on this new music is solid and completely fills the room and or space within it with aural assaults and beautiful movements and arrangements, this music begs to be heard live or at the very least at very high volumes. The musicianship is top notch here with fantastic guitar riffs, solos that seem like they were passed down from the legends themselves, slick sounding basslines and drumming you can march into war with, this album is the complete power metal package and it is a solid 8.5 out of 10. My ONLY gripes here are that I need more haha, I'm serious, the music gets going then it's all over with! If it were a full length release then the score would have been bumped up a bit more, but if that is my only concern that I can come up with here as a review critique, and I am a very hard one to sell on when it comes to power metal music, then all you power metal and symphonic metal fans owe it to yourselves to go give this a listen on their band camp page and show them your support on their social media pages because Norwald needs to be in all of your collections NOW! Raise your steel and ride into battle alongside Norwald, hails!
Review by Joshuah Jones, the bassist of The Obsidian Resurrection.
🤘🏻hails!