CVLT Nation’s Top Six Neofolk Albums of 2011

Neofolk had a tremendous year in 2011.   Expanding the soundscapes laid out by legendary acts like Current 93, Nature and Organisation, and Death in June,  we saw releases from classics like Sol Invictus, Rome, and Of The Wand and The Moon, while newcomers to the scene, such as Hexvessel and King Dude, took neofolk and merged it with novel folk traditions.  Apocalyptic, and brooding, the perfect accompaniment to the dark days ahead, these six releases made a lasting impression on us here at CVLT Nation.  Check out our list after the jump.

 

 

1. Cult of Youth-Cult of Youth (Sacred Bones Records)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sean Ragon’s Cult of Youth have expanded from minimal postpunk explorations of the neofolk sound to full on bombastic anthems.  This record covers a massive swath of musical styles, each fully realized.  From the folkpunk of “The New West”, to the industrial inflected “The Pole-Star”, Ragon and company have produced a work that showcases their complete respect and depth of knowledge for the genre.  With the release of The Devil’s Coals 7″ later this year, Cult of Youth lead the charge for neofolk in 2011.

 

2. Of The Wand and The Moon-The Lone Descent (Heidrunar Myrkrunar/Tesco)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of the Wand and the Moon’s The Lone Descent is yet another fully realized album by the immensely talented Kim Larsen.  The Lone Descent takes the blueprint laid out by Death in June, and runs with it to a more personal, melancholic place.  A bucolic, yet ominous work of music, The Lone Descent showcases the core of neofolk pared down to it’s base elements.

3. King Dude-Love (Dais Records)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

King Dude (TJ Cowgill of Actual Pain) took the apocalyptic spirit of American folk to it’s logical extremes on Love.  Sombre, meditative, and macabre, Love explores the traditions of American folk in a new and utterly compelling way.  From spirituals to murder ballads, Love is a record that wouldn’t surprise you if it turned out to have been recorded in some backwoods mountain town fifty years ago.  With a sound truly his own, King Dude made one of these most impressive debuts of 2011.

4. Rome-Die Æsthetik der Herrschaftsfreiheit (Trisol)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If one was looking for a primer on neofolk, Rome’s Æsthetik der Herrschaftsfreiheit would be an excellent start.  A tremendous work, spanning three LP’s, Die Æsthetik… is a work of trememdous emotive power.  Spanning the range from lilting folk ballads, to industrial driven martial tracks, to spoken word, Rome’s latest is intensely personal and political.  Best summed up by one of this albums themes, “art holds a unity that history does not”.

5. Hexvessel-Dawnbringer (Svart Records)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hexvessel’s Dawnbringer takes neofolk down psychedelic paths, crafting a record of immense atmosphere.  Like a soundtrack to the Satanic Panic, Hexvessel reveals a dark and adversarial worldview, seething with a beautiful, liturgical aspect.  Imprinted with the sound of late 60’s English folk, yet oddly off in certain ways, Dawnbringer is moody and sombre, the hymns of a ritual world that exists just out of sight.

6. Chelsea Wolfe-Ἀποκάλυψις [Apokalypsis] (Pendu Sound)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fact that an artist such as Chelsea Wolfe, playing doomy, industrial neofolk, is seeing some level of mainstream acceptance says something about where the popular taste is going.  As we ready ourselves for the coming strife, Apokalypsis hits at the perfect time.  A  collection of folk that is equally brutal as it is beautiful, Chelsea Wolfe expands on the sound laid out on The Grime and the Glow here, exploring more complex arrangements while maintaining a sense of raw vulnerability.