1999, I just started to get acquinted with the neofolk scene. Then suddenly there was this new band that released its debut on a metal label: Of The Wand And The Moon. That same label released the debut album of Parzival and the rumour was that Kim Larsson also did the Rammstein-like vocals of Parzival. I described the debut as a mix between Gae Bolg and Enigma. Parzival made heroic medieval music with techno rhythms (the famous ‘Amen break’) and very destinctive, extremely low vocals. I like the album, but perhaps because of the 3 year gap between the second album (released on a label that I do not know), I never bought anything of Parzival again, inspite of very nice compilation contributions. Somehow I started downloading the albums that I missed a little while ago and while looking for a real copy of the magnificent “Deus Nobiscum” album (2006, sold out, I now ordered a second hand copy) I noticed that Parzival released a new album on the label on which they once started. Parzival had developed towards more of a Laibach style with pompous orchestral industrial and choirs. “Urheimat”, however, reminds of what nowadays is called “old style EBM” in several tracks, while the others are more in the Laibach vein. Not as good as “Deus Nobiscum”, but still very original and enjoyable.
Links: Parzival, Euphonious
