First I’d like to explain the recipe for this band. Imagine a big kitchen with a huge blender. Then put some ancient sounds from Corvus Corax in them, the catchy, fast tunes from bands like Dropkick Murpheys and a lot of different instruments like we’re also familiar with in bands like Tanzwut. Finally, add the most important ingredient of ‘em all, namely beer and let it mix for a while. There you have it, the ultimate version of folk music in both English and Finnish language.

 

The record starts with an accordion intro, followed immediately with fast drumming and guitar chords. If this song would be the opening song at a gig, this is the time every glass of beer will be thrown into the air and everyone will start dancing. ‘Happy Little Boozer’ has started, followed immediately after another few fast songs. It’s a little sunshine in rainy days.

 

Whereas the previous work of Korpiklaani seemed to slow down at some points, ‘Tales Along This Road’ is able to keep the tension high, even in slow songs. The song ‘Korpiklaani’ is a good example of that; although the speed is decreasing, you still feel like singing along with every inch of your body, keeping the spirit alive. The same goes up for ‘Under The Sun’. It is prove of the fact the band can now make not merely speeded up songs (in which the listener simply hás to enjoy the melody) but also some interesting other parts.

 

Therefore, I’d consider ‘Tales Along This Road’ as a perfect, total and complete album. There is just no single bad song on the record and for that I’d like to give Korpiklaani a lot of credits. Do not expect some very technical and difficult melodies though, because that’s not what this music is intended to do.