Finnish Metal

Circle – Incarnation Review

Circle – Incarnation Review

“I can judge a book by its cover. And I always do it. I even take the tome in my hands and I weigh it. Yes, I weigh books and decide whether or not I should go on reading the blurb on the usually polished, sensually pleasant cover. If the words convince me and the overall product smells good, I put it back on the shelves and I resume cruising through the aisles like a junkie who has learned that the best fix comes from the filthy hands of fellow addicts. They know better. In music, I follow the same criteria. I don’t get fooled too easily by a press agent all too eager to impress someone who enjoys weighing books in shopping centers on a Tuesday morning. I mean, come on.” Alex weighs both life and literature… and music. Yes, he’s like Anubis, weighing and judging all things. And now it’s Circle’s turn to be measured.

Code – Augur Nox Review

Code – Augur Nox Review

“Genre tags such as progressive and avant garde are kind of paradoxical terms in metal. Surely something truly progressive or avant garde should traverse the outer fringes of musical expression, bringing to the table a metal forged of fearless, arcane exploration? Often that’s not the case – those terms are in many ways boxes only slightly larger than thrash, death, and other tags of old. Does the anticipated third album of England’s Code break free of these restraints?” JF Williams asks and also answers. That’s why we keep him around.

Mamiffer & Circle – Enharmonic Intervals (for Paschen Organ) Review

Mamiffer & Circle – Enharmonic Intervals (for Paschen Organ) Review

“There is a tendency, among music critics, to emphasize anything even vaguely related to experimentalism. For them, any album that smacks of avant-garde is either ‘a step forward’ or simply ‘beyond’. The trajectory, the direction and what boundaries the sound has allegedly trespassed are details that are almost always left undisclosed. The end result is that there is no critique, but instead an endless succession of attributes, excerpts and frustration.” Alex indicts the entire music reviewing industry as he digs into the interesting release by Mamiffer & Circle. Give us Hell, Alex!!

Domovoyd – Oh, Sensibility Review

Domovoyd – Oh, Sensibility Review

“Finland has a dark legacy within the subterranean world of doom metal. Browsing the Encyclopaedia Metallum’s list of Finnish bands reveals the likes of funeral doom pioneers Thergothon and Skepticism, as well as other underground stalwarts of the genre such as Wormphlegm, Shape of Despair and Stabat Mater, to name a few. Indeed, the Finns do not fuck around with their doom – perversion, depression, sadism and Lovecraftian horror is the name of the game. Even the more traditionally oriented Reverend Bizarre was similarly steeped in lyrical and musical despondency alongside their trademark tongue-in-cheek snarkiness. Yet, here we have relative newcomers Domovoyd. Somewhat of an anomaly within the country’s pitch-black doom metal reputation, Domovoyd is a stoner doom group that looks to the likes of Electric Wizard, Sleep and The Sweet Leaf for inspiration.” A new and exciting band and a review of same by a new and exciting writer for AMG. JF Williams is here to discuss doom, stoner rock and all things Sabbath worshipping.

Oranssi Pazuzu – Valonielu Review

Oranssi Pazuzu – Valonielu Review

“Music that takes you places in your mind is a queer phenomenon. How the hell did the mind associate certain patterns of molecular vibrations in the air with such far-flung imagery as the cold depths of interstellar space and impossibly colorful dreamscapes in the first place anyway? To answer my own question because I’m solipsistic like that: unicorns. Also: invisible fairies sitting on your shoulders that are hosing liquid fairy dust into your ears. And oh, don’t forget about those psychic ants chewing and burrowing into your brain’s numerous ridges.” The staff at AMG apologies in advance for the cutesy-tootsy nature of this here review. We’ve tried nothing with Happy Metal Guy and nothing hasn’t worked. Anywho, read all about the unicorns and blackened doom from Finland.

Wolfheart – Winterborn Review

Wolfheart – Winterborn Review

“Tuomas Saukkonen is no stranger to the pages of AMG. We’ve spoken very highly of his Before the Dawn and Black Sun Aeon projects and generally came across as nuthugging fanboys of the man’s work. Needless to say, we were as shocked as everyone else when he unexpectedly laid both bands to rest (along with several others) and announced his intention to focus solely on a new act called Wolfheart, which at least initially would consist of just him.” Since we lose two great bands in order to get Wolfheart, is it a fair trade off or did we get screwed? Steel Druhm examines the details and overall fairness.

Tarja – Colours in the Dark Review

Tarja – Colours in the Dark Review

When Tarja Turunen took her larger-than-life operatic talents out of Nightwish and off to South Beach, she and her former band-mates engaged in enough back-biting and insults to fill an entire season of a Mexican soap opera (and a few Mexican wrestling matches as well). When all the bickering was done, Nightwish acquired Anette Olzon and soldiered on as Tarja began her solo career in earnest. While Nightwish has fared respectably with a few decent albums under their belt in the post-Tarja era, Tarja’s solo outings have ranged from average to rather bad.” Can this comely Finnish diva reverse course and put out a killer goth-metal platter? Steel Druhm examines all the colours (except blue and green, since he’s a bit colorblind).

Turisas – Turisas2013 Review

Turisas – Turisas2013 Review

We all knew Turisas2013 was going to be a controversial record when the title was released. Turisas2013 doesn’t read like a particularly inspiring name for this Finnish ‘folk metal’ band’s latest record. One commenter quipped that it sounds like what they called the folder where you store the .wav files, not the title of the record itself. On top of that was the remarkably short turnaround time. Turisas isn’t a band known for its quick work, and they were coming off a remarkable and fascinating record from 2011 that I flat out loved. Recent history teaches us that ‘fucking with the formula‘ is generally a bad thing; if a band needs 5 years, give it to them! But just as Orphaned Land faced label pressure, it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if Turisas2013 was produced under pressure from a label that doesn’t want the world to forget that Turisas exists[1. Note: this is entirely speculation. No one told me shit.]. Whatever the reason for looking at a Turisas record in 2013 with the half-baked name of Turisas2013, it’s here… Is it everything you feared?

Church of Void – Dead Rising Review

Church of Void – Dead Rising Review

Church of Void is a young upstart Finnish doom band, but they like to bill themselves as the spearhead of the “new wave of traditional heavy doom metal.” While that might be putting the cart before the dead horse quite a bit for an obscure band, I admire their hyperbole and moxie. Featuring former members of Battlelore and Horna, they play a slightly amorphous style of doom that skips between 70s Sabbath worshipping acts like Orchid and Hour of 13, modern doom like Katatonia and even stoner rock like Monster Magnet.” Can a young band lead the way in a style so old and gnarly? Steel Druhm is also old and gnarly so we asked him.

Frosttide – Awakening Review

Frosttide – Awakening Review

“Last year NoiseArt Records graced my greedy hands with Survival of the Fittest, the debut release by Italian band Krampus. With two well received EPs already floating about, I had some excitement in hearing their brand of modern folk metal. By the end of the year the album had worn a considerable groove in my playlist, so much so it eventually ended up on Madam X’s Top 10(ish) of 2012. Until now, 2013 has felt a little lean in terms of folk metal, outside of Månegarm’s (Legions of the North) blackened folk offering, nothing’s jumped out at me – Finnish melodic folk metallers Frosttide are doing their damnedest to change that.” We don’t let Madam X review much folk metal because she’s too dark for such things. We made an exception with the new Frosttide and since nobody got hurt, The Providers are pleased.