Kalmah: New Songs from Upcoming 'Palo' Album

The date is fast approaching when Kalmah is set to release 'Palo' upon the world. It's been a long wait since 'Seventh Swamphony'. With a band as proficient at melodic death as these Finns, I'm excited to see what's in store on this one. I wasn't overly enthused after hearing the first release, "Evil Kin", but the second song released, "Blood Ran Cold", has upped the ante.

Wolfheart - Tyhjyys Review

 1. Shores of Lake Simpele

 2. Boneyard

 3. World On Fire

 4. The Flood

 5. The Rift

 6. Call Of The Winter

 7. Dead White

 8. Tyhjyys

Tyhjyys begins with the hauntingly beautiful track, ‘Shores Of Lake Simpele’. It’s a mellow instrumental but sets the atmosphere for the remainder of the album as many of the songs contain segments that verge on soothing, interspersed with segments containing a more traditional melo-death harshness. Long instrumental breaks are characteristic of Wolfheart but they are well-crafted and fit with the flow of the album. Wolfheart manages to capture the cold somberness often associated with Finnish melodic death metal; that feeling of melancholy and of desolation. Tuomas Saukkonen’s growling vocals serve to accentuate the angrier moments contained within the album.

‘The Rift’ presents some distinctly death metal elements, but still retains melody. This is true of the entire album, although the purest death elements are found within this track. Tyhjyys is expertly written with each segment flowing seamlessly into the next. It would be difficult to point out any obvious weaknesses in Wolfheart’s third full-length release.

Meaning ‘emptiness’ in the Finnish language, Tyhjyys captures the complexity of the word. Which may seem contradictory at first thought, but some listeners will understand perfectly. It stands out as a journey through the empty void that the prevailing theme of natures’ power is capable of evoking. Perhaps it’s reading too much into the album (and perhaps not) to say that it’s a powerful allegory in itself.

Tyhjyys isn’t an album that will turn a non-listener of the sub-genre into a fan of melo-death. It’s not an album that when given a superficial listen will warrant several replays. However, upon glimpsing beyond the surface, Tyhjyys is a bewitchingly somber, intricate, immersive album deserving of a thorough listen.

Best tracks: Shores Of Lake Simpele, Tyhjyys, Call Of The Winter

On The Radar: Eye Of Horus

I first caught Eye of Horus opening for 3 Inches of Blood and Goatwhore back in 2013, and was immediately impressed, One of my favourite local bands, they bring a tightly constructed style of melodic death metal. In the vein of Bloodbath and At The Gates, this is a band that should continue to do great things. They typically pack any show that they headline and become favourites at any festival they play.

'Infernal Calling', their debut album, was released almost exactly one year ago. Crushingly heavy, I would highly recommend it for any death metal fan. Eye of Horus have just released a video for one of the album tracks, "Hexagammatron".

Check out the official video here.

Kalmah: Worth The Wait (A Live Review)

Kalmah with Vesperia, Trollband, Mongol

April 19th, 2016

Starlite Room

The Starlite Room contained a surprisingly decent sized crowd early in the evening to witness local support acts Mongol and Trollband. Mongol, in typical fashion, played an energetic set that was genuinely enjoyed by the audience. Rising through the folk metal ranks, they also shared a new song with the horde (The Mountain Weeps). Trollband further pumped up the crowd, many of whom were already quite familiar with the band’s interesting mix of blackened folk metal. Vesperia, hailed as “epic death metal from the frozen north” were a perfect segue from the more folkish stylings of the first two openers to the more deathish stylings of Kalmah. 

After waiting nearly ten years to see Kalmah live, the Finns didn’t disappoint. Emerging from the swampy depths of Oulu (which is probably not that swampy at all, but it sounded good), they tore up the Starlite. While one typically doesn’t think of a melodic death metal band and a sense of humor going hand-in-hand, vocalist Pekka Kokko cracked a few jokes throughout the night and genuinely seemed to be enjoying the gig. Kalmah played a good mix of old and newer material. This was to the liking of many of the fans although Kalmah is one of those bands who has never released an album that could be recognized as anything less than strong. ‘Pikemaster’ came off sounding particularly awesome as the energy of the band never seemed to wane through the set. 

Personally, I would have loved to hear ‘Wings Of Blackening’, but with such a strong repertoire of material to choose from, it would have been impossible to fit all of the favorites into the length of a single set. Perhaps it was one of those songs Pekka Kokko forgot how to play, which was another humorous quip from the frontman. Amidst a dismal spring filled with uncertainty for many metalheads in this province, Kalmah provided the perfect dose of melo-death, proving that the wait to see the Finns live was more than worth it.

Children of Bodom - 'Morrigan' Video

Children of Bodom's latest offering, "I Worship Chaos" is due out on October 2nd, a mere few days away. I definitely haven't minded what I've heard so far, and I will be getting myself a copy of the album.

The video for 'Morrigan' was posted a few days ago and seems to have met some pretty mixed reviews. Honestly, I almost wish I hadn't watched this video as it taints what I liked about the song itself. I am definitely not a fan of the video; it seems really cliche without offering anything interesting. I get the concept, but I don't like the execution. And using an MMA fighter in the video? I just hope it doesn't attract more douchebag fans to this particular band as there already seem to be enough of those. (Can you tell I'm not a big fan of the type of person that is stereotypically attracted to MMA?)

If you're looking for a little background on the video, take a look at this article:
http://www.songfacts.com/blog/writing/behind_the_video_morrigan_by_children_of_bodom/