Fenris is a Dutch band playing melodic black/viking metal, with “Ordeal” as their second full length album since the band’s formation in 1997. After several changes in the band formation the current lineup is Gilbert (lead vocals), Bas (guitars, synths and vocals), Vasco (bass and vocals) and Rick (drums).

“Ordeal” tells us a story about a people living in a ravished and scorched place, abandoned by their god and suffering under evil forces. They still have hope though and pray to their creator for a better life. Luckily for them, not all is lost! They begin a journey to a better land, guided by the power they worship. Using a boat, they sail through the unknown and have a continuous hard time. The album concludes with the people taking fate in their own hands, though their ongoing quest is still not finished. According to the official website of Fenris, the idea behind all this is “mankind will never truly find eternal salvation, nor will its suffering be everlasting” . (www.fenris.nl )

Could this be a Christian band? A ‘creator’ leading people to a better place (holy land) obviously brings this to mind.

Instead of God, the creator could also easily be Odin or any other power though (referring to the band name, the word Midgard in the lyrics and Fenris’ last album for example). In my eyes, the lyrics are quite disappointing. Why don’t these people stand up and fight, hack these evil forces to pieces (or even: why aren’t they the eingvil forces themselves bringing murder and mayhem), instead of cowardly fleeing and believing in a nameless and obviously useless god?

The general idea of the album, an ongoing story, makes me think immediately of Edge of Sanity’s ‘Crimson’. Musically the band also seems to be influenced by Edge of Sanity, mainly the succession of different musical parts in one song (for example slower parts followed by more intense parts). The main bands that come to mind though when listening to Ordeal are Windir/Vreid and Dimmu Borgir. Some other influences can be heard throughout the album, for example the Kovenant in the song ‘Ordeal’.

Even though I don’t like the lyrics, and the music isn’t that original, it’s still very well played and produced. A first class metal band that almost matches the musical quality of the above named bands!