WIND ROSE

You get the complete package with WIND ROSE. The mighty heavy metal anthems, the boisterous, folksy camaraderie, the cartoonish but lovingly detailed imagery and costumes, and an unmistakable air of professionalism: everything is in its place, and the Italians have truly grown into their role as metal's resident fantasy dwarf ensemble. As silly as the whole thing arguably sounds, particularly to non-converts, WIND ROSE are simply upholding one grand tradition of European melodic metal, with toes in both the war-hungry bluster of bands like SABATON and WARKINGS, and in the frenzied traditionalism of FINNTROLL and KORPIKLAANI. Before you arrive at the flaming doorway, you already know that "Trollslayer" is going to be rowdy, uplifting and defiantly old school, at least in melodic terms. It may also include songs about slaying trolls, which is always a bonus.

It takes WIND ROSE a while to get to the point this time around. "Of Ice and Blood" is a pretty enough intro with a certain cinematic flamboyance, but distinctive it is not. It comes as some relief when "Dance of the Axes" finally kicks into gear, and the always beefy and bombastic sound that the Italians have been tinkering with for more than a decade blooms anew before our withered ears. A dangerously catchy piece of high-velocity folk metal fluff, it encapsulates the essence of what WIND ROSE have done with increasing efficacy since their early days as a more progressive, power metal-aligned concern.

Having embraced the folk metal mindset, they have found their niche and are perfectly comfortable defending it. Songs like "The Great Feast Underground" and "Rock and Stone" have plenty of thrash and diehard trad metal in their DNA, but it is their joyful, wired-to-the-tits folksiness that makes "Trollslayer" an exhilarating 40 minutes. And while they may lack the sinister authenticity of FINNTROLL, the Italian quintet have a similar level of berserk energy. "Come and join the party till the day is gone…" roars frontman Francesco Cavalieri during "The Great Feast Underground", and his enthusiasm is infectious.

The lonely downside to "Trollslayer" is that there is little variation on offer. From the rousing sea shanty of "To Be a Dwarf", to the full-throttle, melodic thrash hallucination of the title track, "Trollslayer" sticks to a formula and sees no reason to deviate from its core principles. The only legitimate curveball here is the closing "No More Sorrow", which is not only the best song by some considerable margin, but also the only moment that indicates a desire to push this endlessly upbeat and epic sound into more interesting territory. Slightly deeper, slightly darker, and blessed with a gently intricate arrangement, it takes WIND ROSE away from a battlefield in broad daylight, and into more nuanced, atmospheric landscapes, where gruff emotional outbursts are merely a front for something more profound. Or, of course, they just wanted to end the album with a sad one. Perhaps bands like this are not built for analysis. Instead, just play it loud, feel the joy, and watch the trolls get hacked to bits.