Not a typical place, Quebec, Canada, for forging Lord of the Rings style metal bands with old Norse names. Nevertheless, that's where female fronted six-piece Valfreya's from.
Over the past weeks (yeah, this one been with me for some time now, I know, sorry, Maple Metal) I've gone from thinking it all a bit silly to thinking it's more than alright.
In fact, I'd go as far as saying that the Canadians' blend of hectic folk music and almost Cradle of Filth-like metal is brilliant. Whether you like being taken into a Tolkien universe like this, you can always enjoy the diverse and rich folk metal soundscape, full of wild riffs, screams, growls and front vixen Crook's folky clean voice.
Music to dance to, music to bang your head to - try it out!
