When I think of Finnish black metal, I immediately envisage the hordes of primitive sounding, raw, aggressive bands that have been spawned over the years. However, this does not tell the whole tale and there is of course a healthy cohort of Finnish metal bands that lean towards the more melodic end of the spectrum. Marrasmieli are one such band, purveying grandiose black metal with a healthy dose of folk and pagan elements, and I found myself with their debut album ‘Between Land and Sky’ for company while on the windswept Northumberland coast on a brisk January day.
This debut album follows on from 2018’s self titled EP and is indeed very impressive for a first release. The album gets underway with a short intro consisting of the sound of waves breaking and birds cawing, to be joined by the calming sound of a flute before the peace is shattered by ‘Embrace the Eternal’. This wastes no time, bursting straight in with blastbeats and abrasive riffs, before a simple yet effective flute melody brings a sense of order. Icy, rasping black metal vocals soon join the melee, before the track returns to the flute and this back and forth jostling for position continues throughout the track. As things builds, a hypnotic pulsating rhythm comes to the fore, before things are brought to a close with an acoustic string passage, which juxtaposes nicely with the preceding onslaught.
‘Those Who Are Long Gone’ continues with incisive riffs straining at the leash before being let loose and a pummelling battery ensuing. Epic melodies soon augment things, creating majestic soundscapes and conjuring up images of icy, windswept lands. Choral backing vocals add extra dimensions to this giving a grandiose feel, laying a foundation for the ten and half minute opus that follows. ‘Karakorum’ starts with an atmospheric, synth based intro, before it builds into another epic melody with measured rasping vocals, taking its time to build and evolve. At this point it was more atmospheric black metal than folk or pagan and it struck me that this album effortlessly morphs between several different styles.
There is a return to the more familiar pagan melodies on ‘The Ardent Passage’ which delivers heroic tones and roaring melodies for its eight minutes, leading into closing track ‘Aallot’. This is a magnificent eleven minute beast, which opens with a contemplative acoustic guitar piece over the sound of breaking waves, completing the cycle with the albums intro, before returning to familiar epic pagan metal. Midway the track returns to the acoustic guitar and waves before coming to a close with a flurry triumphant pagan black metal, and that nicely sums up the album….. Triumphant Pagan Black Metal indeed.
(8/10 Andy Pountney)
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