Grendel's Sÿster - Myrtle Wreath / Myrtenkranz
Cruz Del Sur Music
Folk metal
16 songs (50' 34")
Release year: 2020
Cruz Del Sur Music
Reviewed by Andy

It's hard to place Germany's Grendel's Sÿster in a metal genre, but it's very easy to get into its sophomore EP, especially if folk metal is your thing. Myrtle Wreath has elements of doom and heavy metal, so it's easy to understand why Cruz del Sur picked it up, but overall it's a folk album, and a very good one.

The band's sound is simple: Guitars with sharp crunching riffing, crisp drums, and harmonized female vocals of a startling intensity from the vocalist, Caro. The subject matter covers a fairly wide range of mythology (there are offerings from Hindu, Norse, and Greek) but they find room to stick in a couple of traditional German folk ballads too, which are two of my favorite tracks and show off Caro's harmonies the best, especially Count and Nun, where they introduce a galloping riff on the verse. There is a copy of each track in the band's native German in the latter half of the album (accounting for the album's 50 minute length despite its being labeled an EP), which some reviewers like better, though I favor the English versions myself. This is definitely one of the more interesting albums I've heard this year, both in sound style and in quality. Those who who liked Falconer's Armod album will probably get into this right away.

Bandcamp: https://grendelssyster.bandcamp.com/album/myrtle-wreath-myrtenkranz-ep.

Killing Songs :
Little Wildling Bird, Count and Nun
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