Back in October 2021 I came across Eld Varg’s One Man Army describing the album as: “a first class storming album of brutal riff-based heavy/power metal with a top slice of mystical atmospherics done so well by the Scandinavian bands of the genre.” Read the review here.
However Eld Varg is neither a band no Scandinavian. Eld Var is multi-instrumentalist Ollie Noakes from Scotland who handles it all himself – song writing, vocals and instrumentation.
Now he’s come up with a “reinforced edition” of One Man Army making it heavier and tighter than the original with each song returned to the forge, tempered in the fiercest of flames, emerging stronger, heavier and perfectly formed.
If I can quote from the Eld Varg web site using Ollie’s words:
“The original release of One Man Army was a personal triumph for myself and the band, and something that I’ll be eternally proud of. Having the chance to revisit and rework these songs was an opportunity I couldn’t pass. There has been a lot of growth in the Eld Varg camp over the past year and being able to prove myself and give back the versions of these songs the fans deserve is the perfect way to put a final stamp on part 1 in the Eld Varg story. This is the version One Man Army was always meant to be.”
Recorded in the newly revamped Fort Noakes Studios in Scotland, this edition contains the original 10 songs entirely rerecorded, with the utmost attention, passion and precision given to each and every step of the process, from recording through to mastering. The release also contains the acoustic version of Wastelands and the brand new song, Wanderer, a song written around the release of OMA21 and now released to you all.
The original version of One Man Army is superb in its own right. From start to finish the riffage doesn’t let up and neither do the scorching solos or the overall power of the songs. Cutting, slashing, rampaging riffs aplenty breaking out in to further measured mayhem after the thumping intro.
As it says on Eld Varg’s Bandcamp: “Riffs, riffs and more riffs…..a heavy, groovy and melodic metal album with enough Norse, metal snake and celestial tales to satisfy even the most metal of metal fans.”
That sentence sums up One Man Army very well. With the reinforced edition adding more to the power.
Have a listen to the reinforced version of Vulcan’s Hammer:
The reinforced edition is available in various formats (as is the original version) from the Eld Varg Bandcamp page here:
https://eldvarg.bandcamp.com
Ollie Noakes tells me there’s a new Eld Varg on the way. Looking forward to that…..!