Kuolemanlaakso from the city of Kuopio, Finland were formed in 2010. And as from the very beginning of their existence, they did surprise me enormously. The band’s 2012-debut on Svart Records, Uljas Uusi Maailma, was a truly satisfying aural experience, and one of the best Death Metal albums that very same year (though, can one label this material just as ‘Death Metal’?).
Sami Hynninen aka Sir Albert Witchfinder is especially known from projects and bands such as Opium Warlords, KLV, Reverend Bizarre, Spiritus Mortis, Armanenschaft, Orne, The Candles Burning Blue, Azrael Rising and many others. These entities do differ from each other, yet all of them have one common idea: the creation of weird, dark and extreme sonics.
On November 4th 2013, MDD Records re-released Demilich’s grandiose 1993-album Nespithe. I’d like to refer to the review I did for this re-issue, which was posted on February 8th 2014, for a (short) history of the band.
Way back in the mid-eighties, I proudly brought Rattus' full-length album Stolen Life to my weekly meeting with the group of Punk/ Hardcore music lovers I had befriended, and prepared them for a shock. Even then, I had grown convinced that what held back musicians to grow out of the Punk/ Hardcore idiom into spheres more complex, was the fact that they didn't have the techniques to do that, and that as soon as a musician had acquired such techniques, (s)he would put them into practice in the music played!
Something of a surprise from one half German/the other half Turkish duo , Mantar mix some notable ferociousness of their own into the typical formula. The sound of Death by Burning is not too far from the usual standards as far as songwriting goes, but the venomous vocals and vicious dark attitude add a genuine touch to the music, being sometimes reminiscent of Melvins, Darkthrone, Amebix, Motorhead and Frost with a similar rough quality.
I was enormously surprised by last year’s full length Uljas Uusi Maailma, Kuolemanlaakso’s debut for Svart Records. This new material was written and recorded under the same constellation and under the same moon, with producer / engineer Victor Santura taking care of the studio duties once more. And it was a correct decision to have all this stuff released as two different releases, the full album and this EP (on CD and vinyl, in both cases strictly limited).
Born in the winter of early 2010, this Helsinki based Finnish quartet founded by guitarist Goatspeed and singer Kvohst (whom has been in British Black Metal act Code, spent time with Norway's Dodheimsgard, and has a tenure with Freak Folk band Hexvessel), soon released its debut demo White Stains On Black Wax featuring two songs in a style which they themselves dubbed “Apocalyptic Post-Punk”, and sold it out in record time.
Having come across this Finnish band's name as a reference in Circle's most recent album Incarnation, I felt no reluctance whatsoever about having to review this quartet's most recent outing.
Another Svart Records release, and yet another shot of great retro-tasting music!
As it turns out, the people at Finland's Svart Records have a musical taste which extends beyond the mere “Rock”, “Metal”, and “Punk” genres, as proven with this one-man NeoFolk act Pyhä Kuolema (band name translating to “sacred death”).
