Vanaheim |Roede Voor De Borst |Fireflash Records

Verhaal" built the following, and the metal press named the latter one of the albums of the year 2022. Between 2023 and 2025 the band played Graspop Metal Meeting, Wacken Open Air, Wave Gotik Treffen and Milagre Metaleiro, toured with Manntra, Heidevolk and Ensiferum, and opened for Alestorm and Equilibrium.

"Roede Voor De Borst" is a concept album of six tracks and close to forty minutes, set in the Netherlands of the 19th century and sung in Dutch. The story moves from regret to despair, then to hope and salvation, and the Dutch lyrics tell that arc with bare honesty. Joost Van Den Broek handled production, tracking and the mix, Mika Jussila mastered it in Helsinki, and Coen Janssen of Epica and Nils Fischer of Eluveitie play on every track. Symphonic layers, the violin of Rikke Linssen and death metal riffs share the same space, and in the closing title track "Roede Voor De Borst" the orchestration sits above the guitars of Michael Van Eck.

Symphonic layers, the violin ofRikke Linssen and death metal riffs share the same space, and in the closing title track "Roede Voor De Borst" the orchestration sits above the guitars of Michael Van Eck. Every track runs between five and seven minutes, and from "Geestenmist" to the title track the pace holds one line, with no sudden swerve and enough breaks in tempo. Zino Van Leerdam's Dutch vocals sell the despair and the hope, and the violin gives the folk lines their color. The sound stays inside the usual symphonic folk metal frame, and the Dutch language with the 19th century setting is what sets Vanaheim apart from other bands there. A large production, a story told with emotion and an orchestral layer that rides above the riffs under it.

|7.0