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Named after the demonic creature that accompanies St Nicholas on his merry-making rounds to scare naughty children, Krampus is an eight-piece folk metal band from Italy here presenting this short EP for your listening pleasure.
Like many modern folk metal bands Krampus combine both keyboards and an array of traditional folk instruments in their music, blending each and every one into a seamless, highly enjoyable package. Krampus' music range from traditional folk joviality, such as Tears Of Stone, to shades of something more epic as in The Rocks Of Verden and even shades of classical in Witches' Lullaby. There is an undeniably Celtic sound to many of the songs, not least the Eluveitie-sounding Howl. Each track is well crafted and will lead to much foot stomping and head banging!
As with many new bands in this sub genre the only real criticism that can be leveled is that the music has that unshakeable 'heard it all before' quality. Its not particularly original, even down to the warpaint and fur costumes worn by the members, and this will lead many listeners to disregard them as clones of Ensiferum / Turisas / Eluveitie and many others. This is a shame as Krampus have quality and deserve to be judged on their own merits. In my opinion originality is oft-overrated anyway, true innovation is very rare, and I would much rather hear an old style done very well.
My advice to you if you're a folk metal fan is to give Krampus a chance. They're more interesting than many of their forebears and I am sure that you will find something to enjoy in the 25 minutes of Shadows Of Our Time. I bloody enjoyed this and will certainly look forward to hearing more from this Italian octet!
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