I must start with a warning: if you prefer your music to be serious, Omen X is not the album for you. Turmion Kätilöt describe themselves as disco metal, but I think that eurodance industrial metal would be more accurate. It may be that the very idea of it makes you want to run away screaming, and I would completely understand. However if you are intrigued (and possibly share some of my dubious taste in music) this crazy Finnish band may just fill the eurodance/metal hole that you didn’t even realise was missing from your music collection. Turmion Kätilöt sing in Finnish, but using my piss poor Finnish (thank you Duolingo) and semi-decent translation (thank you Google) it becomes apparent how much the melodies and the lyrics are woven together.
The first track Totuus (Truth) starts with full on EDM but when the vocals and drums kick in, it is easy to see how it all fits together. Yet while the music is energetic and upbeat, the lyrics tell a much darker story about using drugs like fentanyl to escape reality. But the drugs take their toll on the body resulting in health issues. When the end comes, you will likely suffer and eventually you will be forgotten. The contrast is fantastic and works really well.
Verestä Sokea (Blinded by Blood) feels almost like a description of Ebola. Lyrics describing bloody tracks leading to the toilet and the narrator screaming for a cure are sung over a dancy industrial background. Sormenjälki uses the EDM pattern of building up until the bass drops but I think it loses its way a little about halfway through. Pyhä Kolminaisuus (The Holy Trinity) sounds more traditionally industrial but the chiptunes at the end make me smile every time I hear it.
The most surprising track, reminds me of Robert Miles and morphs into something a bit darker. The lyrics deal with love, loss and death, and it sounds like each of them have their own musical motif. This is the last song, which is great as most of the previous albums have ended with a “to be continued” track that I generally don’t like. They have been quite experimental and jazzy which doesn’t do it for me, so I am happy to do without.
Realising that the lyrics are much deeper than the bouncy music suggests has brought an added dimension to the band that I didn’t know existed previously. However, to me Turmion Kätilöt will primarily continue to be a silly energetic band that bring a smile to my face. I would love to be in the pit screaming out the lyrics in my pathetic Finnish, or wasted and dancing to Omen X in a club. Although none of the tracks are outstanding (unlike their album Universal Satan), the album as a whole is solid and highly enjoyable.
(7.5/10 Abe Grahame)
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