This may seem a bit old for our pages -- but their 2006 release and _Drakkars of the Mist_ are also reviewed in this issue. More importantly, I like it and have great admiration for the concept.
Folkearth are not a band in the conventional sense; rather they are a project of some fourteen musicians, from Greece, Lithuania, England, Switzerland, Austria and Sweden performing folk metal. (Which presumably explains their choice of moniker.) Most of the musicians are unfamiliar to me, but do include members of Forefather and Yggdrasil.
As implied by the expansive membership, the full spectrum of folk instruments are used, including acoustic guitar, bodhran, mouth harp, tin whistle, Uilleann pipes and violin. Seven vocalists are utilised, providing everything from blackened shrieks through to clean vox. My personal favourite are the clean soul-searing vocals, not unlike Garm (Ulver), right down to the chants.
But despite contributions from a wide variety of people, someone had to have the idea and the responsibility of coordinating such a diverse cast. The genius behind this project is one Ruslanas of Lithuania, formerly of ambient black metallers Ravenclaw. I refer to the line-up as a cast, as Ruslanas´ role is much closer to that of a director than that of a front-man! Plus, the majority of members -- and I use the term loosely -- have not even met each other, let alone record in the same room.
It is easy to see how problems could arise in such a situation, yet the album is remarkably coherent despite being highly varied. It is not as strong as their sophomore effort, but there are far worse folk metal albums littering the scene.
8/10 Quentin Kalis - Chronicles of Chaos zine

Folkearth is definitely one hell of an interesting act to follow and the true Folk/Viking metal fans are most likely to agree. Gathering musicians from some of the most important European countries that have made a major impact in this style such as Lithuania, Switzerland, Austria and of course, Sweden where a lot of the artists on this debut are hailing from.
Main man and overall great composer/musician, Swedish multi-instrumentalist Magnus Wohlfart (Yggdrasil) composed just about all the music beside doing the mixing and mastering, while Marios Koutsoukos (Dol Amorth) is the one behind the lyrics. Magnus actually wrote the lyrics on track #8, "Gryningssang", in his native tongue. Although this album is somewhat rougher and not as refined as their well acclaimed successors, A Nordic Poem contains all the ingredients of what this "act" is able to produce. Good songwriting, great vocals including clean male ones, female and rasps, acoustic guitars, traditional and classical instruments (cello, violin, pipes, mouth harp, tin whistle etc...) and muscular riffs, bass and drums. All of this creating the foundation of what Folkearth has become: a very interesting and varied multi country Folk/Viking metal consortium. Perhaps not as flamboyant as By the Sword of My Father and Drakkars in the Mist , A Nordic Poem still has its great moments on such tracks as "Horned Trolls and Mystical Folks", "In Odin´s Court", "Storm Ravens Come" and"Gryningssang".
Folkearth have just released their fourth album called Father of Victory and I´ve heard a couple of tracks on Myspace and it really sounded like a great new addition from this always interesting Folk horde.
3,75/5 Pagan Shadow - The Metal Crypt zine

Так уж вышло, что рецензировать творчество этой языческой сборной пришлось с середины, с третьего альбома, поэтому многое из того, что стоило бы сказать о проекте в рецензии на первый диск, было уже освещено ранее. Так что, минуя исторические предпосылки FOLKEARTH, я перейду сразу к сути, то бишь к музыкальному наполнению серебристого кругляша под названием "Северная поэма".
Десять композиций, включая intro и outro общей продолжительностью в сорок классических минут очень сильно насыщены всеразличными акустическими звуками гитар, волынок, варганов и прочих колоритных инструментов. На фоне неконтролируемого буйства мелодичности не забыта столь необходимая жёсткая составляющая в виде электрогитар и даже хрипловато-каркающих вокалов. Общая мелодика песен довольно сильно напоминает Viking-период Bathory в смеси с Blind Guardian и лёгкими вкраплениями Manowar и Falkenbach. Влияние Bathory особенно заметно по великолепнейшей композиции "Rhyming With Thunder", прямиком отсылающей слушателя к временам "One Rode To Asa Bay". Приятным включением звучит варган в почти блэковой "Eldritch Sorcery And Faery Runes" и эпической "In Odin´s Court". Надо заметить, что варган вообще широко применяется на альбоме, что добавляет особого колорита музыке. К месту пришлись скрипка и виолончель.
В целом, музыка FOLKEARTH на этом альбоме неспешная, не тяжёлая и очень мелодичная. В вокальных партиях упор сделан на хоровое пение, скримингом не злоупотребляют и особо его не выделяют. Некоторая хаотичность композиций и огрехи продюссирования при внимательном прослушивании смягчаются и становятся некритичными. Приятный альбом, который стоит иной раз переслушать.
6/10 Paganshikoff

Released in 2004, A Nordic Poem is the debut album from the multinational Folk Metal group known as Folkearth. Given there are so many contributions with such a multitude of musicians involved, from different vocal styles to the instrumentation this release as with their other albums is quite the amalgamation.
The short intro "The Pipes Are Calling" kicks A Nordic Poem off and as per the title the bagpipes are included. "Wolfsong In Moonlight" is the first full and heavy track, combining dark vocals with a male choir and folk instruments to catchy effect. "Horned Trolls And Mystical Folk" begins with a calm intro before the guitar riffs take over and growling vocals come into play. The tempo is dialed down for "Rhyming With Thunder" a heavy pounding track, "Eldritch Sorcery And Faery Runes" is one of the more complex numbers and sees the tempo sliding up and down. "In Odin´s Court" is another slow folk rocker, "Storm Ravens Come" a peaceful track for a while that changes with the increasing momentum including hectic death metal styled drumming. "Gryningssang" an energetic folk number that sees the drums abandoned and "Gaelic Valor" is a powerful song with lots of combined vocals.
The short "Outro" brings A Nordic Poem to a climax, being a pleasant atmospheric instrumental but probably more suited to a futuristic Ayreon release than a Folk Metal album. A Nordic Poem was an impressive debut from Folkearth especially given the scale of the project that was undertaken.
3,5/5 Scott Jessup - Sea of Tranquility zine