Album Review: Subway to Sally – Post Mortem (Napalm Records)

Rumoured to be finished, Subway to Sally, the German grandmasters of folk metal, prove they are very much alive with their 15th studio album, ‘Post Mortem’, released on December 20th, 2024 via Napalm Records.

So much for 2023’s Himmelfahrt being their last album! Subway to Sally have found the drive to carry on, continuing their 30+ year career, and releasing another fine slab of folk metal that looks forward, rather than backwards. It’s not just folk metal that is alive and well, but the folk metal that Subway to Sally play. Arriving in ambient and folk-infused style with the intro of Introitus, before exploding into life with the wonderful Phönix. A track that embraces the ‘folk metal’ moniker proudly and serves as timely reminder of Subway to Sally’s power.

The anthemic bar has been set, but with another eleven tracks to come, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Subway to Sally have plenty more anthems to offer. Casting a critical eye over the current situation with the title track, which has a chorus that just makes you want to punch the air excitedly. Then with the stompy grandeur of Wunder, a track that feels every bit a Subway to Sally song, the riffy head banger that is Nero (the old-school metal twist this track has is delightful), and Unter dem Banner, with is one hell of a rabble rouser.

By the halfway point, it’s clear that Subway to Sally didn’t choose to carry on for no real reason. They’re still on a creative tear and sounding as strong as ever, 15 albums in. That’s incredible, isn’t it? Even Herz in der Rinde has impact here, and their more ‘ballady’ stuff isn’t always the most exciting of listens.

What is exciting though is when they embrace a more cinematic folk style, one with heaviness and symphonic detail, such as what they deliver with the powerful Lumpensammler. Before power metallers Warkings join Subway to Sally on the thrilling heavyweight anthem that is Stahl auf Stahl. The vitality of this record, helped by the power metal sound of Warkings (singing in English too), is so damn memorable.

That’s the album though. Memorable as hell and a genuine pleasure to listen to, especially as we once thought we’d never hear anything from this band again.

Yet here we are. Enjoying the hefty melancholy of Atlas, the creative folk drama of Kummerkind, the heavy metal ode that is Eisheilige Nacht, and the highly atmospheric Die Erde bebt. Four more strong efforts that have just enough variety in them to show that Subway to Sally has forward momentum and enough ideas to ensure their continued existence is celebrated.

Subway to Sally – Post Mortem Track Listing:

1. Introitus
2. Phönix
3. Post Mortem
4. Wunder
5. Nero
6. Unter dem Banner
7. Herz in der Rinde
8. Lumpensammler
9. Stahl auf Stahl (feat. Warkings)
10. Atlas
11. Kummerkind
12. Eisheilige Nacht
13. Die Erde bebt

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