Metal From Finland Blogs

Top 10 Apocalypse Songs for 2012

Moonspell - "Night Eternal"

It’s 2012 and every metalhead wants to have a Heavy New Year ahead, especially now when the prophecies seem so dark and mean. After all, the apocalypse is a typical theme for metal. What to listen to, apart from Metallica’s ‘The four Horsemen’? Get your playlist in tune with this infamous year and watch out, these songs are not for merry days or merry souls.

1. Moonspell – Night Eternal. Easily making it to the top of the list, this song benefits of a great video and

features a wonderful dark atmosphere. These Portuguese metal gods don’t fear the apocalypse, but actually call for it; and they do it in such perfect words that you will wish for the world to end, you too. The perspective is one dealing with Biblical images and puts out more anger than despair – a beautiful prelude to extinction. “First in the skies, apocalypse/ Only your fury can set us free/ Come for we are failing/ Come for we are waiting“.

2. Primal Fear – Seven Seals. Somewhat like a heavy ballad, but intense and dramatic and very, very catchy for its slower tempo. It is so melodic and impressive in its composition, and there’s an outstanding match between the feelings from both the music and the lyrics. I truly get a feeling of the end as it says “There’s no tomorrow…” and also get a sense of dignity. All the lyrics flow extremely well. This is a great rendering of John’s Revelation – the 7 angels, the 7 seals and the tormenting symbols in the Christian apocalypse. And by the way, you can’t end this life until you’ve heard Ralf Scheepers’ vocals on this one!

3. Septicflesh – Apocalypse. Perhaps more solemn and mystical in atmosphere than all the others on this list, it’s a symphonic death metal masterpiece that gives off a tragic, crushing feeling, but at the same time feels like watching a grandiose spectacle. Also, it has a very different interpretation of the end of the world myths. Feels like all is rushing to come to an end, storms are blasting, rocks are falling. The orchestra here is the spine for the brutal yet so harmonizing  metal instrumentation. Pure apocalypse!!!

4. W.A.S.P. – Babylon’s Burning. Yet another masterpiece quoting John’s Revelation. This time, from one of the rebel classics. This proves how metal and badass the scriptures can be. It’s a pleasure to hear Blackie Lawless’ voice announcing the dramatic end of the world!

5. Leaves’ Eyes – Ragnarok. The otherwise delicate Liv Kristine makes a nice effort here. She sounds stronger than ever, empowered by the vision of a world in ruins. The drumwork is excellent here. A fast paces track and a new level for this band.

6. Amon Amarth – And Soon the World Will Cease to Be. Wel l, these Swedes’ two latest albums are all about the end of the world, this time from the ancient Scandinavian perspective, with raging gods, terrifying monsters, war and fire. This one is a dramatic, bitter piece with dark, pressing mood all over – in the typical Amon Amarth vein. No surprise to the fans, these Vikings are proudly taking us through 2012.

7. Hypocrisy – Apocalypse. A true gem of the genre, the re-recorded version of this song sounds amazing. It has a haunting theme from the beginning and takes you from a solemn threat to despair, all in a solid atmosphere of poisoned skies and deathly winds over darkened grounds. Great vocal effort as well.

8. Morgana Lefay – The Seventh Seal. rough, in your face track, with all the elements that made this band big, like wicked and heavy riffs. A pounding rhythm, much enhanced by the bass, delightful for the dedicated metalhead.

9. Heaven Shall Burn – Endzeit. they put up quite a show with this one at Wacken 2011. Nice piano and violin extended intro, then breaking into raging vocals and insane riffs. Fast and aggressive, this has always forced the crowd into mosh pits.

10. Sybreed – Doomsday Party. If we’re ending it all, let’s send it off with a blast. After all we, the metalheads, are not easily brought down to fearing and crying, right? We could as well have fun and dance it away. This lovely groovy-industrial metal band makes the proposition of a party and delivers a danceable track… yet with some rough lyrics: “And this is how we realize the tragic prize of wasting time/ It doesn’t make sense if we die/ And we’ll know in the end if we truly lived“…

Interview with Mikko Virtanen (GRENDEL / DEAD END FINLAND)

If you have an interest in Finnish death metal or in this year’s top releases, you are likely to come across the name of Mikko Virtanen. Vocalist of GRENDEL and DEAD END FINLAND, he had a few words with us about how it is to be a metal musician in the highly competitive Finland, and also about the goodies delivered by the aforementioned bands.

MFF:  Hello, Mikko! How is it for you to handle two bands? You had two album releases this year…

Photo by Tage Rönnqvist

MV: Working with Dead End Finland beside of Grendel does not cause me much work. DEF doesn’t do live shows and I’ve never even jammed with the band in rehearsals. Santtu Rosén and Miska Rajasuo make all the songs and arrangements. We work together only in studio and basically I do the vocals as they suggest. This set-up works out great since Grendel is so big part of my life and takes so much of my time.

MFF: The Finnish metal scene is well crowded, what feeling does that give to an involved musician? There used to be a wave of gothic metal which had its say and then died out; now, there is a strong development of melodic death metal, with numerous bands already.

MV: There are so many excellent bands that it feels like there is not enough audience for all of them in Finland. For example in Helsinki there are always simultaneous gigs on weekends and different clubs need to compete of the audience with each other. Kind of same situation with selling albums. The internet providing everything for free does not help the case…

MFF: GRENDEL can boast with a nice number of gigs year by year. But we know how life in Finland is, there are countless gigs… How would you convince people to choose a Grendel performance?
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Review: The Man-Eating Tree – Harvest

Now this was a very nice surprise for our dull and boring and ever darkening autumn days! Shamefully I am admitting that I did let the debut album of The Man-Eating Tree go past me but luckily I took the time with their sophmore album “Harvest”. I have kept repeating the same thing over and over again when I write reviews…I do not review bad albums and before I write the actual review I listen the album at least 5 times over. I get no kicks of reviewing bad albums. I gladly leave that to other medias. And to listen an album at least 5 times gives you enough depth to actually write something. Now for you who do not know The Man-Eating Tree, here is a very brief introduction.

The seed of the new band was planted when Vesa Ranta, having taken a break from music after Sentenced, began to overcome his post-Sentenced battle fatigue and lack of musical motivation. The idea of a new band – or bands – was eventually brainstormed over a period of time between Vesa and his friends, including gentlemen Miika Tenkula (RIP), Aaron Rantonen, Janne Markus and Mikko Uusimaa. Plans were made reality in 2009; the outfit was completed by the addition of Tuomas Tuominen as a vocalist and Heidi Määttä as a keyboard player. First demo recordings were made in the spring and summer of 2009.

www.themaneatingtree.com

Now to the album. It’s more and more difficult these days to find albums that can actually take those 5 listening times. With Harvest it shouldn’t happen. Although it was recorded during a time when Finland was suffering from the worst heave wave in many hears, “Harvest” turned out gloomy as hell.

You won’t find it too surprising that the title “Harvest” is a reference to the Finnish autumn. Vesa Ranta (drums, formerly Sentenced) explains: “To me autumn is a very creative season and describes the album very well. With the recording of this album we went to the fullest – in a way we are ‘harvesting life’ with it.”

“Harvest” starts with an intro called “Harvest Bell” that already gives you an impression of what’s to come. As much as I hate to use these “This sounds like”-clichees I simply have to use them here…yes it does remotely remind me of Sentenced…it’s the gloomy atmosphere. And those vibes carry throughout the album. There are parts that remind me of Entwine which is also one of my all time favourites…but it’s just parts here and there…small particles really. And one other thing that usually speaks for a good album is that it goes very fast…”What it ended again?” At least to me it means there are no irritating parts in the album that sort of stop the listening experience like “oh crap it’s this song again, gotta skip it”. No, with “Harvest” you can listen through the entire album and let the atmosphere take you on a trip which at least to me, is definately worth it. Been so for 7 times in a row now and just as I wrote these lines, I said to myself again “What it ended again?” and started listening it for 8th time in a row. Still good.

Vesa, who works as a professional photographer and graphic designer, explains why the music of  THE MAN-EATING TREE does and will always have a close link to nature that is also reflected in the artwork: “The beauty and bleakness of nature are very present. I believe that the concept of THE MAN-EATING TREE doesn’t incorporate concrete suburbs, instead a lot derives from nature.” Janne adds: “Being Finnish is a vital part of my personality and I am sure it can be heard in our music as well. Why not, it’s a major part of our band and our sound. The Finnish romanticism and wistfulness are definitely there and always will be.” Vesa further comments: “Of course our Finnish roots are embedded in our music. We Finns are a relatively melancholic nation. This is our and the overall Finnish state of mind that is displayed on the album. The album is very ambient, but it’s the typical Finnish ambience with those dark shades. Still, there is light somewhere far on the horizon.””

Review: 10-/10

Harvest tracklisting

1. Harvest Bell
2. At The Green Country Chapel
3. Code Of Surrender
4. Armed
5. Like Mute Companions
6. Exhaled
7. Down To The Color Of The Eye
8. Incendere
9. All You Kept Free
10. Karsikko

The Man-Eating Tree is

Tuomas Tuominen – Vocals
Janne Markus – Guitars
Antti Karhu – Guitars
Mikko Uusimaa – Bass
Heidi Määttä – Keyboards
Vesa Ranta – Drums

The Man-Eating Tree on internet

www.themaneatingtree.com
www.myspace.com/officialthemaneatingtree
www.facebook.com/themaneatingtree
www.metalfromfinland.com/The_Man_Eating_Tree

Review: Reckless Love – Animal Attraction

If I had to describe this album in one word, I’d use “fun”. Because of the fact that 90% of Reckless Love‘s lyrics are about sex, and that many of their songs can easily be described as “poppy” or even “commercial”, they are definitely one of those bands that you can either love or hate. And you will probably take that decision before the first song you listened to is over.

I have always taken music very seriously and had very high expectations from it, so finding a band that definitely does not fit the typical description of Finnish bands with sad songs and depressing lyrics, and whose songs are just about having fun and putting you in a good mood, is something I never would have expected to like. They couldn’t possibly be more different than the kind of music I usually listen to, but somehow that seems to work really well for them.

Their first album, “Reckless Love“, was released in the beginning of 2010 and was a great success for a debut album. Compared to it, “Animal Attraction” comes with a few new changes and includes songs with more pop elements and even less glam metal, especially on tracks like “Hot“, “Dance“, or “Dirty Dreams“. Even though they might need some time to grow on you, they are surprisingly catchy and positive and probably the most memorable songs on the album. At the same time, the opening track, “Animal Attraction“, together with “Speedin’“, or “Switchblade Babe” continue in the recognizable style of the debut album. “Born To Break Your Heart“, even though noticeably different from the rest of the album, is definitely a song worth mentioning, and undoubtedly one of the album’s highlights, while “Coconuts” is a real disappointment, a song that honestly just doesn’t seem to make much sense.

Overall, this album is certainly not a masterpiece, but I would recommend it to anybody who has an open mind, wants to have fun and who knows exactly what to expect from this band. Just keep in mind that the songs are so catchy that they will be stuck in your head for a long time. And remember the lyrics! It might not be a very good idea to listen to these songs in public for the first time.

Review: 9/10

Tracklist

1. Animal Attraction
2. Speedin’
3. Born To Break Your Heart
4. Hot
5. Fantasy
6. Dirty Dreams
7. Dance
8. Fight
9. Switchblade Babe
10. On The Radio
11. Coconuts

Review: Insomnium – One For Sorrow

  Tracklist:

1. Inertia
2. Through the Shadows
3. Song of the Blackest Bird
4. Only One Who Waits
5. Unsung
6. Every Hour Wounds
7. Decoherence
8. Lay the Ghost to Rest
9. Regain the Fire
10. One for Sorrow

Label: Century Media

Release: Finland October 12, Europe October 17, North America October 18

After the band’s previous success with “Across the Dark“, a title that was not at all overlooked, here they are with a new disc that is about to draw much metal crowd praise. Think about the most anticipated releases for 2011 and, again, you have INSOMNIUM. It is a constant band, faithful to the melodic death genre but not afraid to mingle around and incorporate with grace a few goodies from here and there, all well camouflaged.

The opener is very atmospheric but doesn’t reveal exactly the pace of what’s to follow. It builds up slowly, really slowly, starting from a doomish impression, eventually reaching the true colors of INSOMNIUM, with deep growls and pronounced yet cold melodicity.  ‘Through the Shadows‘, the song that benefits of a nice video, has a chorus that sticks to the mind, fit for humming all throughout the day. It is very catchy and has a strong particularity… Like the band itself announced, the album is filled with darkened feelings and sad stories; however, the effect of this track (especially) is rather one of completed catharsis than of stirring the muddy waters. It sounds… View full article »

Mathias Nygård Interview – Tuska Festival 2011