Zarko

Grains’ Cranes is a debut release that roughly falls into the aesthetic of gloom folk. Sometimes it becomes more psychedelic in its nature; however, everything leads back to a nice, basic, folk sound. The album is pretty much made up of strumming. Often though, it becomes so intense that the resultant sound of the strum means nothing – only the actual strum itself finds itself into the music, and I quite like that touch.

The actual album may be a bit repetitive to some. Perhaps it is the best for the gloom label, as it stops itself from developing in its nature – The whole way it is Rob Williams on his acoustic guitar strumming along, not deviating much from his low tempo sounds and notes. Due to this, it can be difficult to grab hold of, even when you are giving it your most undivided attention. However, in the right atmosphere the light will simply turn on and you will find yourself within its grasp. It probably won’t hold you for too long, and can possibly become a forgotten note in your musical collection, but its well worth experiencing once. It’s a shame if you never get dragged into Williams’ melancholic world.


I’ve mentioned this around the place, and it deserves to get mentioned once again. Forseti is a neofolk/apocalyptic folk project hailing from Germany. Erde, whilst sometimes feeling ‘similar’ between each song, is an amazing piece of work. I can’t make high nor low of the lyrics (Being sung in German), but this doesn’t detract from the overall atmosphere or the music itself. The songs are led by a relatively simply acoustic guitar strum most of the time with an assortment of random instruments, such as flutes and violins, as well as Forseti’s vocals, with the occasional guest in to help him. His voice perhaps personifies the German language in my opinion – Harsh and aggressive, but in this context it is near perfect.

This is pretty standard fare for neofolk – However, it manages to do the simple stuff so well that there is little else to do but enjoy the music. Sometimes the songs feel a bit redundant due to the similarities between songs, though despite this there are some amazing songs. Das Abendland, the final song on the album, can match it up to any other song out there when it comes to album finales. This album is more for already fans of the genre, though I have no doubt that some may find themselves swayed to find more in the area after listening to Erde.