I approached Folkearth from a “atypical” order, getting to know them for their 2006 work “By The Sword Of My Father” (already reviewed on Leviatan) and then getting very excited with their 2007 production “Drakkars in the Mist”; having forgotten for some reason to review their first album (courtesy of Stygian Crypt); it was about time to write a couple of lines about the birth of this Viking/folk super project.

As the years went by, the project grew in members and in quality; “By The Sword Of My Father” had 30 musicians participating on it, from the 15 that helped create this debut, to a now 20 musicians if my data is not incorrect. So having heard the two following albums and been very impress with them, I have to acknowledge my disappointment when I finally decided to go back and visit “A Nordic Poem”; the problem lies on the lack of some songs of sounding as a compact production, something the band has been correcting with each album they put out; on A Nordic Poem there is a missing leading instrument, foundation or guide if you will, every instrument that participates on it is quite skillful in their performance but they don’t seem to complement each other as good as they do now, but enough of the annoying comparison to their later better work, lest just talk about this album.

One of the biggest problems I had with the album, was the lack of “thickness”, the lack of emphasis the guys placed on some of their best riffs; or maybe the inconsistency of it, some songs like “In Odin's Court” have segments that are enhanced for the audience to grasp the idea or the focal point of the track, and in this case it would be the nice melody that works perfectly synchronized with the clean male and female vocals that play as a double layer grasping your attention and fortifying the song; this good “judgment” seem to have escape them in just the previous track “Eldritch Sorcery and Faery Runes” which shows a very week sound on the great guitars that get pushed to the very back of the song in order to give more room to the rest of the instruments; when those guitar riffs are the heart and soul of that great track.

A Nordic Poem is a great start, and it would have been better appreciated by me and many others if we haven’t listen to their latest better material; but if you want to get into Folkearth their first album is a good start, a little disorganized and sometimes inconsistent but intriguing non the less, it will probably make you jump and buy their latest record, and believe me the promises made with this debut is only fulfill with records such as “By The Sword Of My Father” and “Drakkars in the Mist”.