There was a time when a new Finntroll release would have had my spewing troll semen all over myself in a gushing review about 45 seconds after the release date. So why then has it taken my so long to review the 5th album from a bad that has arguably been one of my top [...]

Finland is fast becoming a hotbed of musical growth that rivals the Swedish explosion of the early and mid nineties, bands like Kalmah, Children of Bodom, Moonsorrow and Finntroll are putting Finland on the metal map as Sentenced and Amorphis did nearly a decade ago. Leading this creative charge is Finntroll. By fusing folk music and black metal with their native “humppa” or “polka” melodies, they have created a sound that is hard to define, yet enjoyable to listen to. It blatantly defies the inherent seriousness of black metal, but ala Bal-Sagoth; they don’t care and are content to put out the music they want to regardless of the genre restrictions. Last year’s Jaktens Tid, was my top album for 2001 and was a natural progression from the debut. I visited with guitarist Somnium to discuss this seemingly out of place group of trollsters.