In 1993, Jonne Järvelä formed a folk metal band called Shaman, drawing heavily from traditional Samic folk elements. In 2003, after releasing two albums, Shaman was disbanded and reborn as Korpiklaani. Korpiklaani’s sound has evolved into something much more polished than the raw enthusiasm of Shaman, without losing the energy and spirit that imbued Shaman’s albums. Spirit Of The Forest is the first album put out under the Korpiklaani moniker, and it retains the atmosphere that Shaman’s final album Shamániac shows. At the same time, the structures of the songs are far more varied, and the album as a whole displays far more diversity of sound. Where Shaman is steadily driven forward by a wild enthusiasm, Korpiklaani pulls back from time to time and enters slower, more mysterious ground.

Spirit Of The Forest still has the raw, almost spontaneous sound that marked Shaman. The instrumentals especially are so dependant on the melody provided by the violin that they conjure images of sitting around a campfire in the woods rather an a crowded concert venue. Even the tracks with a more prominent guitar role aren’t structured around the typical metal guitar form. The songs are driven by melody rather than riffing, and the guitar generally follows the lead taken by violin, accordion or flute. These acoustic instruments are strengthened by the presence of the electric guitar and bass, however, rather than the power of those instruments being weakened or softened by the acoustics. The drumming plays the same role as it would in a true folk song, providing a deep beat driving the song forward. There aren’t a lot of fills and those that appear are fairly simple, taking a far backseat to the melody that is the real force and interest of the song. Some of the more heavily metal songs, such as Wooden Pints might have benefited from more intricate drumming, but on the whole the more simplistic style of drumming fits the album.

Järvelä’s vocals match the atmosphere of the songs perfectly; for the most part they’re a style just bordering on a growl, as through someone were singing whose voice had been naturally roughened. The lyrics are all in English, a vast departure from the material released as Shaman, which is universally in the traditional Sami language, or aren’t lyrics at all, but yoik, a traditional Sami method of throat singing. Unfortunately there isn’t much of it present in Spirit Of The Forest, although it’s mentioned in Wooden Pints (which is how I came to find out about it). Spirit Of The Forest is also heavy on instrumentals, and while I generally find the lack of a vocal track in metal to be a severe detriment, the acoustic melodies here are prominent and interesting enough to more than make up for the absence of vocals. The instrumentals are usually the heaviest on the folk influence, sometimes rousing in a way that’s not generally found in metal.

The album as a whole is about evenly split between more energetic (and generally more heavily metal-influenced) and slower, more contemplative and folky songs. Wooden Pints, possibly the most memorable song on the album, falls into the first category, with an extremely infectious melody and a darkly celebratory atmosphere. At some points the vocal rhythm strains a little to keep up with the rest of the song, but it doesn’t sound too out of place with the more raw sensibility shown throughout. Wooden Pints has a more typical chorus-verse-chorus structure, although that’s a relative rarity on the album as a whole. A good number of the songs on Spirit Of The Forest are more flowing and unbroken, although build around a theme that my repeat. This is more typical of the instrumentals, but a few of the tracks with vocals are structures in this way as well. Crows Bring The Spring follows this more flowing structure, and despite the presence of what is technically a chorus, it’s far closer in sound and spirit to a repeated instrumental theme.

While there is a definite split between Shaman and Korpiklaani’s sound, the skill with which folk and metal elements are blended remains intact, and the spirit and drive behind the music still shines through. Any fan of folk metal is well advised to look into Korpiklaani’s catalogue, and Spirit Of The Forest is an excellent place to start.