Review by JD on January 29, 2015.

The province of Quebec is fast becoming a hotbed of varying arrays of metal. Death and black metal are the most prevalent in the market but another very unusual sub-genre is coming up the rear and might equal them both. Folk metal seems to fit the rich history of the region nicely, hence the reasoning for its rise.

Trobar is an eclectic mix of instruments wrapped in heavy melodies and brutal riffs. Musically amazing, this six member act know how to write a song and keep it interesting. The melodic harmony of all instruments blend with the brutal heaviness that weaves a spell of pure power but the one weak spot is the vocals (male). One dimensional and very badly delivered, it seems to be the only thing that stops the music from flowing.

I love certain songs, despite not knowing any French to begin with… yet that fact does not mask how the vocal sounds are out of place, placing them more in line with melodic death metal than this. 'Tyran' and 'Le Sacrifice' are the tracks that musically are impressive but the very bad cookie monster vocals are the thing that brings it down. Perhaps some stylized power metal vocals with symphonic leanings would be a better choice here. For some folk metal- death metal vocals work, but in Trobar actually does not and bogs things down.

I love a lot of viking/folk metal and the music here is awesome as hell. If they could get a different singer who has a nearly symphonic angle to his/her voice without a growl… the possibilities can be so endless. The frame work is set in and is in place, nothing instrumentally has to be changed… now is the time to get the vocals so badly needed and set that achievement bar high and go for it.

Rating: 8 out of 10