I tried really hard to avoid preconceptions for this review, but a band name like King Of Asgard summons Amon Amarth to my mind immediately.

And without a doubt, King Of Asgard fall into the Viking genre. This means they play death metal that is often mid-paced, has riffs strongly rooted in melody, and deals almost exclusively with topics from Norse mythology. The whole package is pushed to the extreme edge of epic-ness, sometimes bordering on cheese, but often just being heavy and fun.

Although it was hard to shake the initial feeling that Fi’mbulvintr was simply another remix of Versus the World, I did gradually notice the places in which King Of Asgard blaze their own trail. For one, there are touches of black metal throughout the record, which really works thematically with the whole Viking thing. They also delve into a bit more folk than their bearded brethren. You can hear some of the same Swedish melodies in there as can be found on Falconer and Dissection stuff, for example.

Speaking of Falconer, drummer Karsten Larsson plays for them too. Makes sense, because something in KOA’s sound kept making me think of Falconer’s self-titled debut. I finally checked the credits and saw that King Diamond’s Andy LaRocque produced both records. That’s awesome, because he always does a good job and Fi’mbulvintr sounds stellar as a result.

If you can ignore a few over-the-top missteps (the intro to “The Last Journey” sounds like a Lord Of The Rings trailer soundtrack), you’ll find Fi’mbulvintr to be a very good album within its genre. Nothing on it hasn’t been done before, but I can guarantee it’ll make you want to sharpen your sword and have a drink from your wooden tankard.

3.5/5