Tag Finland
On the face of it, this one sounds right up my street and possible other people’s. Finnish trio Šamane specialise “dark halls of cold alternative rock, grieving tones and mesmeric soundscapes”. “Solstice” is their third album release. The minimalist deep… Continue Reading →
Last time I covered Sonata Arctica, one of the long established titans of European Power Metal, they didn’t impress me at all. Their work was, putting it bluntly… Shite. It lacked that energy and spark which the band used to… Continue Reading →
Based on the theme of darkness and light, “the two voices” as the artist behind Iterum Nata calls it, this album crosses numerous genres, amongst them folk and neo-folk, black and doom metal and progressive rock. Our senses are made… Continue Reading →
I was quite taken with the sophomore album by Finnish black metal weirdos Vaina. Their ability to blend so many different genres into their style, seamlessly, was quite remarkable and took me back to the mid-90s when bands like Arcturus… Continue Reading →
A feast of both clear and opaque cinematic visions is promised on this third album release from Finland’s Vargrav. With two members of Moonsorrow and a vast number of projects among the four band members, it’s not surprising that this… Continue Reading →
I first heard this Finnish lot back around 2005 when they were still called The Coven but for reasons of life and stuff unrelated it’s been a good ten years or so since I last dropped in on them. I… Continue Reading →
Nostalgic Death Metal albums are like buses. You miss one then ten will turn up dressed in greasy denim and bullet belts belching songs about war and tragedy before dragging you off towards the early 90’s. Shrapnel Storm from Finland… Continue Reading →
There can’t be many things in life that are less embarrassing than looking back at past version of yourself and realising that hubris, although a word I rarely deploy in any shape, way of form, is not something that you… Continue Reading →
The term “raw black metal” tends to be used as a marketing tool, but not here. Noitila’s music is described as “an invocation of darkness, devil worship, death adulation and ancient Finnish folk magic”. What I found more interesting is… Continue Reading →
One of the band members equates the opening pieces of this album to differing and developing landscapes. I translate that as soundscapes. It’s evident that Virta’s self-proclaimed atmospheric and cinematic music is geared to working with sounds, hence I suppose… Continue Reading →
In this household we rate Moonlight Sorcery. This household being that of the present writer. Last year I interviewed them for Metal Rules and one of my questions was about blue and purple album covers being guaranteed success in black… Continue Reading →
My English professor at university was very fond of well-written opening lines. For him, the beginning of a story, book or drama had to contain the crux of the piece, introduce the main character(s) or hint at the plot in… Continue Reading →