From Chad Bowar,
Your Guide to Heavy Metal.
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The Finnish folk metal band Korpiklaani has been very prolific, releasing five albums in six years. They've switched record labels, and their latest effort is on Nuclear Blast Records.

Korven Kuningas (which means "King Of The Woods) continues Korpiklaani's trademark style of Finnish humppa. There are uptempo drinking songs along with traditional folk songs using instruments like the violin, flute and accordion. They even slow things down with an acoustic ballad. Korpiklaani performs their music with a lot of energy and joy, and the songs are very melodic with tons of hooks and singalong choruses.

As usual, a lot of Jonne Jarvela's vocals are in Finnish, with some English lyrics as well. Korpiklaani have really perfected their sound on Korven Kuningas. The songs are similar to what they've done in the past, but better written, catchier and more diverse. The only weak spot is the final track, which goes on for over 20 minutes and has a really annoying drum beat that is the last 15 minutes of the song.

(released March 25, 2008 on Nuclear Blast Records)