It always seems like the folk metal I listen to is more from the North Sea/North Atlantic sorts of countries - Finntroll, Tyr, Korpiklaani, and the like. So it's interesting to come across Silent Stream of Godless Elegy, who hail from the Moravian region in the eastern Czech Republic. On their latest opus i]Návaz[/i], the group sings all lyrics in their native tongue. This is interesting because many bands seem to sing at least partly in English, even when it's not their native tongue. (It's also interesting because as far as I can tell, all of their previous albums had English lyrics.)

Návaz is the band's fifth full-length CD over their 15-year career. Although I'm not familiar with any of their back catalog, I think their history provides insight into this well-produced, musically tight album. Some of their older albums were listed as doom and death metal, and that shows in the slower, heavier pace on most of the songs. The group splits vocals between clean female vocals and male vocals that occasionally double clean and occasionally double growled. The female vocal deliveries give the music a gothic metal feel as well; this is particularly pronounced early in "Skryj hlavu do dlaní," where the vocal delivery and clean instrumentation give a mystical feel. In addition to the typical metal instrumentation, a violin is ever-present as a melodic line and replacement for the guitar as a solo instrument.

Although the slow, doomier songs are fine, I think the album's high points are really the more upbeat songs. In particular, the album hits its finest moments halfway through "Slava." Said track has a majestic feel brought on by harmonized vocals and violin, which build to the simple-but-hooky chorus of the song's title. "Dva stíny mám" is another high point, starting off heavier with a straight death metal growl before the female vocals come back in.

I'm a little torn on Návaz. It has some good songs, and it doesn't have any that are bad as such, but I think the doom roots and slower pace don't really do it for me because it lacks energy. High energy is crucial to Folk metal's fun vibe. Návaz is one of those albums that I would say check out one or two songs before taking the full plunge. If you like any of tracks, you'll probably like all of them, but if you feel lukewarm, you'll probably feel the same about the rest of the album.