ORANSSI PAZUZU

Black metal is one of relatively few styles of metal that seems to mesh well with psychedelia. (Or maybe only black metal acts are disproportionately willing to dabble in it.) It makes sense how one can make that leap, since classic psych often was categorized as such primarily on its instrumental tones, and black metal often focuses on having an atmosphere that ebbs and flows fluidly with searing tremolo picking and expansive walls of guitar. Just take a look at Sigh, Hail Spirit Noir, or these guys, Finnish five-piece Oranssi Pazuzu.

Their last release, 2020's Mestarin kynsi, was a really solid release that I enjoyed a lot. Its hazy, swirling atmosphere made it a prime candidate for repeated listens, as something new always emerges from the sonic slurry. Muuntautuja sees Oranssi Pazuzu push some new boundaries, incorporating synthesizers and electronic elements to a significant degree.

Plinking synthesizers open up "Bioalkemisti", which almost feels like icy new wave and black metal had some kind of crazy love child. The rhythm is taut and straightforward, and a big synth line is the focus here, at least during the verses. The vocals are practically gurgled, and they lend the whole affair a nearly ritualistic feel.

The title track comes next, and looping synths bring some industrial flavors to the table. The vocals are processed and synthesized, and the band does an amazing job of keeping things unsettling and making the listener feel on-edge. In contrast, "Voitelu" is a raucous, pounding cut. It utilizes the preceding songs' heavy synth tones, but this clearly has much more metal DNA. Piano does a wonderful job at cutting through the thick and mucky distortion with a sharp and glimmering sound. By this song's conclusion, it's a nearly-overwhelming wall of distortion and noise that swallows up everything else.

"Hautatuuli" almost sounds like a trip-hop cut in its opening moments. A laid-back drumbeat and lightly-detuned guitars make for a low-key, if slightly anxiety-inducing, atmosphere. Things grow more oppressive across this song's runtime as more synths swell up. This piece, like many others on the album, is focused on finding a core groove and then building off of that foundation.

Following the sub-one-minute interlude "●" (I honestly don't know why it's a separate song and not just part of the intro of what follows), "Valotus" is a lurching, sludgy maelstrom. The rhythms are swirling and disorienting, and the harsher, industrial-style synths integrate into Oranssi Pazuzu's sound perfectly. Embellishments of piano help to break things up, alleviating any potential fatigue from the nonstop auditory onslaught. This song's climax, though, is the noisiest, most cacophonous passage yet on the album.

"Ikikäärme" gives us something of a reprieve, with delicate piano and a froggy, throbbing synthesizer in its opening. The drumming again lends this something of a trip-hop feel. This song's uneasy mood makes it sound like the soundtrack to a tense, artsy film. As this piece progresses, though, more metal sneaks its way in until it finally erupts into a crashing tsunami of distorted bass, screeched vocals, and thumping percussion.

Muuntautuja closes on "Vierivä usva". The focus here is once more on atmosphere, with distorted bass echoing and fluid synthesizer tones sliding around. It's a fitting conclusion.

Oranssi Pazuzu have knocked it out of the park again on their new album. In addition to their usual base (insofar as they even have a "usual") of psychedelic black metal, they blended in elements of industrial and trip-hop. It makes for an intoxicating blend of blistering aggression and subdued anxiety. If you're looking for something moody, exciting, and unique, this is an excellent choice.

Review originally published here: theeliteextremophile.com/2024/11/11/album-review-oranssi-pazuzu-muuntautuja/

Following the trajectory of the Finnish psychedelic black metal band ORANSSI PAZUZU is like experiencing an Earth based band fall into a wormhole and accidentally tagging along for the ride. While starting out as a somewhat recognizable black metal band all the way back in 2009 with its debut "Muukalainen Puhuu," ORANSSI PAZUZU incrementally left the gravitational pull of our host planet and has taken a bonafide space journey into a world of its own making. This eclectic quintet has returned after a four year hiatus with its latest effort MUUNTAUTUJA which translates into something like "Transformative" or "Shapeshifter" which is exactly what this idiosyncratic and eccentric band has clearly become.

MUUNTAUTUJA marks another step beyond the once established parameters of black metal and takes the band into a bizarre web of neo-psychedelia that finds electronic influences taking a much larger role in crafting strange futuristic soundscapes that offer wild otherworldly spaced out effects. While the black metal hasn't been totally usurped by gurgling synthesizers, trip hop based beats and ominous industrial sounds, any traces of Scandinavian kvlt majesty have been set way down in the mix as to leave only distorted guitar distortion rumblings and the band's classic raspy vocal style as a beacon of light that points to its origins. Something like a modern day Ulver that never jettisoned the black metal furor, ORANSSI PAZUZU has reached the middle of its wormhole journey with one of its strangest albums yet.

One of the most inventive black metal bands to have emerged in the 21st century, ORANSSI PAZUZU set off like a voyage on the Star Trek Voyager and has crafted a truly unique sound that never remains stationary from album to album. While the earlier albums showcased a post-metal-like procession with cyclical riffs that slowly ratcheted up to crescendoing uproar, the band has always teased in psychedelic embellishments that have indubitably initiated a completely new genre called space metal. By the time the band got to "Mestarin Kynsi" it was apparent that these Finns were heading to the stars without looking back and boldly going where no black metal band has gone before. And the best thing of all is that these talented musicians actually created interesting song structures that made you want to tune in rather than send them off on their mission.

This band has always reveled in juxtaposing the most polarized opposite musical genres together and making strange bedfellows sound like a predestined fit. MUUNTAUTUJA only ups the ante as it takes you on a transcendental musical excursion into an alternate universe where Blut Aus Nord and Portishead commingle in darkened corners with Death Grips and Philip Glass with a touch of Massive Attack, Ministry and Mad Capsule Markets. From the very first oscillating tones of "Bioalkemisti" it's clear that MUUNTAUTUJA is a completely different beast than what came before and another incremental leap down the avant-garde rabbit hole with surreal musical motifs that shapeshift from one track to the next that sample from a cauldron where the disparate worlds of progressive rock, black metal, trip hop, 20th century classical and industrial rock have been simmering in an undisclosed locus in the midst of the vast Finnish forests.

Along with Dodheimsgard, Ulver, Ved Buens Ende and Ram-Zet, ORANSSI PAZUZU has become one of Scandinavia's most forward thinking bands and with the closing "Vierivä usva" totally drifting off into space and leaving the metal mojo behind one can't help but wonder if this band is going to pull an Ulver on us and completely jump into the world of avant-garde electronica. Wherever this inventive band leads many of us avant-metal nerds will surely follow as it is virtually guaranteed that this band will take you somewhere you never knew existed. While i personally found the previous album to be more of my liking, this one is definitely a wild ride into the world of cosmos metal that will leave you gasping for air as you drift beyond the limits our Earthly realms.

Love such a fantastic psychedelic experimental metal from Finland. "Mestarin Kynsi" was released in 2020 as the fifth full-length album of a Finnish metal act ORANSSI PAZUZU, who call themselves a psychedelic / black progressive metal band. Actually this is my first ORANSSI PAZUZU's creation that sounds more experimental, slashing, and melodic than a dark stoner project DARK BUDDHA RISING from the same province. Guess there would be some progressive metal fans who feel not only avantgarde or depressive but also funky, garagey, or rather dreamy via their soundscape. Although the distorted voices are slightly cheesy, their basic musical appearance is quite colourful, wonderful, and delightful. Such a practical, pragmatic element can be heard through the beginning of the first shot "Ilmestys".

Based upon deep, heavy, grangey performances by the rhythm section, what an impressive explosion the keyboard / synthesizer-oriented quirky sound emissions are. Their melodic and rhythmic lines are not so complicated nor destructive enough to drive our head into insanity but every single phrase sounds quite bombastic and framboyant. Musical kicks are consistently tasty and flowery. The similar texture can be felt via the following track "Tyhjyyden Sakramentti" featuring smooth, soothing guitar playing. Sentimental, emotional touches are pretty impressive. Not only their definite extremity but also their intensive experimentalism and revolutionalism unleash our potential. The latter phase produced with heavy industrial keyboard revolutions are wonderful. My favourite.

The third attack "Uusi Teknokratia" is another surrealism. On speedy rhythm turfs, complex melodic appearances dance into madness. An uneasy atmosphere between loud sound distortions is very challenging. Psychedelic freakout essence here and there is also lunatic and fantastic. The terminal part launches a similar vein to lengthy reverberations sometimes heard in Krautrock for us. This one can be grabbed through the former part of the following section "Oikeamielisten Sali" (as if we would listen to "Trixie Stapelton 291" by FILLE QUI MOUSSE). The middle of the song sounds more devastating and dissecting though. And bright instrumental seasonings go forward massively. In "Kuulen Ääniä Maan Alta" , excessive explosive keyboard performances are pleasant and enjoyable. They remind us of another side in the Finnish electronic scene or something. The last "Taivaan Portti" is a kind of perfect death metal. Occlusive continuous post-metallic missiles attack our inner mind. Sadly it's the most plaintive one all around the album.

There are pros and cons for this opus apparently but I feel they did a good job. Finnish experimental metal rules, let me say.

Listening diary 24th February, 2022: Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin Kynsi (avant-garde psychedelic black metal, 2019)

This one's finally starting to click for me - a relief of sorts, since Värähtelijä is one of my favourite albums of all time, and the fact that I wasn't quite getting this one was threatening to put me in the pile of edgelords who complain about bands they like getting famous. I can definitely see why this one caused Oranssi to blow up, but it's not because it's more accessible, it's because it's more bonkers. There's far less of the atmospheric black metal style here, instead they've gone into some even more bizarre fusions including krautrock and synthesisers, and the psychedelia is turned up to 10. It's nowhere near as immersive as their previous records, and perhaps that's why I didn't latch on as easily, but the atmosphere is traded for some incredibly muscular grooves, and the overall creativity of the album couldn't be higher, especially for modern metal.

7.2 (6th listen)

Part of my listening diary from my facebook music blog - www.facebook.com/TheExoskeletalJunction

"Mestarin Kynsi" is the 5th full-length studio album by Finnish, Tampere based act Oranssi Pazuzu. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in April 2020. It´s the successor to "Värähtelijä" from 2016 but although there have been four years between the two album releases, Oranssi Pazuzu have not layed low in those years as they released the 2019 Waste of Space Orchestra collaboration album "Syntheosis". An album where Oranssi Pazuzu collaborated with members of fellow countrymen Dark Buddha Rising. There´s been one lineup since the predecessor as guitarist Moit has been replaced by Ikon.

Stylistically the material on "Mestarin Kynsi" is psychadelic blackened rock/metal, influenced by 60s/70s krautrock and spacerock artists like Hawkwind, (early) Pink Floyd, and Can, but with an occasional metallic edge and black metal type screaming vocals (screaming out Finnish language lyrics). The music is raw, repetitive, and hypnotic in nature. Sometimes building from a low volume opening to a loud noisy climax, and other times just full-on rocking from the opening to the end of the track (an example of the latter is the closing track "Taivaan Portti").

The sound production is not lo-fi, but it´s deliberately made to sound like it was recorded live in the band´s rehearsal space, while all the members of the band were trippin´ on bad acid. It´s a savage nightmarish affair which sounds like it was born from endless drug-fueled jamming. There are both mellow and more noisy moments on the album, and some of the latter are so noisy and messy that the wall of sound of drums, two guitars, bass, organ, and vocals, drown each other out, and has the effect that the music becomes a white noise drone (again "Taivaan Portti" comes to mind as a good example of that). I´m sure it´s exactly the effect the band were aiming at, but it´s not for the faint at heart, and it´s not exactly easily accessible music.

So "Mestarin Kynsi" is an album to the listener who enjoys jam-like, repetitive, and hypnotic music. There is structure here, but not regular vers/chorus structures. It´s continuously moving and evolving structures and you´ll have to listen a long time for reoccuring themes or conventional hooks. In that respect the material on "Mestarin Kynsi" is highly experimental, which of course isn´t a surprise if you´re familiar with the band´s preceding releases or their influences. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

This 50-minute long album is not for the faint-hearted as Finnish Act Oranssi Pazuzu create something which is experimental, dark, and to be honest just plain weird. This is their fifth album since they came together in 2007, and their name is taken from 'Oranssi', meaning 'orange' in their native Finnish language (the colour of cosmic energy) and 'Pazuzu' is the ancient Mesopotamian demon of the wind. So, they are orange cosmic demons of the wind, maybe. For the most part they are combining post rock and atmospheric black metal in a manner which also uses both space rock and krautrock, and while Neurosis are a point of reference so are many others such as Swans. It is eccentric and experimental, yet while there are passages which do make sense there are plenty of others where it feels like the band is just treading water with no emotional build or direction.

The production is deliberately cloudy, and although the bass stands out the guitars tend to fall into a buzzsaw background, while the black metal vocals sound as if they have come from the early Nineties as opposed to the present day. One of the issues I have with it is down to the choice of keyboard sounds, as there are times when it sounds as if they have been sampling Eighties games and it just comes across as twee as opposed to threatening or exciting and does nothing to move the music in a positive direction. I do get the impression, certainly when they move far more into standard black metal territory, that they are quite a different beast in concert, and while I can see myself checking them out if they were in town, listening to this again for pleasure is another matter altogether. Reading the biography this band ticks a lot of boxes for me, so I was looking forward to it, but the overall result is too messy, with a lack of direction.

15/12/2020 - Revisiting my most liked albums of 2020 has invited some reappraisals of my initial thoughts and feelings. While I stand by everything I previously wrote, the balance between the brilliant songwriting and uncomfortable vocal elements has shifted decisively in favor of the brilliant songwriting. The music here is simply otherworldy and undeniably progressive in any very positive sense of the word. Mestarin kynsi is essential listening in 2020 and onward.

--- Full disclosure: I listened to this album genuinely wanting to hate it. Count me as one of those people who barely considers experimental atmospheric black metal as music. But regardless of how you might feel about black metal or the various kinds of atmospheric post-rock sub genres out there today, there is still something irresistible about this record. Every song on this record is a clinic on how to skillfully layer music and build tension. And unlike so much of the music in this sub-genre, the ambience actually contains discernible melodious musical ideas.

However, the tragedy of this record is the insufferable and suffocating black metal vocals. Time after time, vocalist Ontto insists on interrupting the band's groove with the most grating black metal vocals you've ever heard (outside of the lo-fi traditional black metal). It's not that harsh vocals wouldn't work with this music at all, it's the specific style, timing, and perhaps mixing of them that is so off-putting.

Oranssi Pazuzu are clearly an exceptional and envelope shattering group. And while they certainly don't owe it to anyone to change or adapt their sound in anyway, I genuinely regret that their vocal choices are going to deprive a larger audience of hearing what actually makes this band so exceptional.

With a name that refers to an orange colored Babylonian demon, the Finnish band ORANSSI PAZUZU sounds as if it just moved to our planetary system after leaving the Oort Cloud and more than any other modern metal act has brought the term psychedelic metal into the vernacular while more or less making the final case for its inclusion as a bonafide subgenre of the greater extreme metal universe. Although this band was formed as far back as 2007 in Tampere, Finland, it has remained underground like a collective of bottom-feeding fungi that are only visible to those who venture into the dark recesses of the musical universe however album after album this band has grown in stature by crafting a collision of sounds that acts like A.I. as it self-replicates and learns how to perfect itself after every incremental step.

While there was never any doubt amongst the true believers who have been following this band over the last several years that this collective has latched onto the visionary possibilities that can only expand beyond its wildest dreams, perhaps nobody was expecting how quickly this band emerged from the Finnish fens of the great Scandinavian north has wrested itself into the top position of black metal's highest ranks. With only its fifth album MESTARIN KYNSI ( Finnish for 'Master's Fingernail' ), ORANSSI PAZUZU has struck the perfect balance between the dramatic and calamitous sonic terror of black metal fury with the darkest psychedelic head trips that portend an ominous demonic summoning as if they have found the perfect musical formula to terrorize the astral planes. Talk about a scary trip!

Embedded with a hypnotic minimalistic post-rock style of cyclical grooves and rhythms bringing pioneering forces such as Swans and Neurosis to mind, ORANSSI PAZUZU amplify the psychological effects by taking things up several notches and crafting a true state of visceral anguish expressed in recurring loops of sound that find sonic experimentation and dark avant-garde ambience to frightening new arenas. While the team of Jun-His [Juho Vanhanen] (vocals, guitar), Korjak [Jarkko Salo] (drums), Evill [Ville Leppilahti] (keyboards, synthesizer, organ, effects, percussion) and Ontto [Toni Hietam'ki] (bass) remains solid, this cast of darkness has found the replacement of Ikon [Niko Lehdontie] who takes the place of long time guitarist Moit. With a set of six sprawling tracks, ORANSSI PAZUZU has taken the possibilities of psychedelic black metal back into the realms of the Oort Cloud with sonic swirls of scary atmospheric backdrops and effects that envelop every thumping bass groove, every raspy vocal rage and every thundering percussive backdrop fortified by guitar antics from the deep.

Having been based in the aesthetics of black metal since its inception, ORANSSI PAZUZU has grown more confident in its ability to weave a tapestry of electronic intimidation with suffocating eddies of sonic pulsations balanced in a perfect production where a twinkling drone effect envelops the sonic assault like a black hole and the musicians are left to compete behind a resonating wall of sound. In many ways it seems that the results of the ORANSSI PAZUZU experiment have also found the logical conclusion of the pre-OP sounds in the experimental post-punk act Kuolleet Initiaanit. Going for the psychic jugular, MESTARIN KYNSI is designed to craft the ultimate darkened cloud over the world with the one/two punch of heavily distorted black metal in conjunct with eerie atmospheric spectral slices of astral angst.

Keeping the ORANSSI PAZUZU steeped in the Finnish language only adds to the frigid cold alienation of MESTARIN KYNSI which takes the expected route of post-metal styled guitar riffage drifting into expansive terrains while subtle variations of rhythm, pitch and dynamics slowly ooze their way in and out of the scene but this album takes on various new personas by engaging in many moments of non-metal moments by taking unexpected turns into what almost sounds like black techno. The most shocking development is the third track 'Uusi Teknokratia' which offers a pounding groove as if The Prodigy or Infected Mushroom had seized control and steered the musical flow into a psytrance induced Krautrock fueled black metal frenzy. If blackened Kraut-metal hasn't been coined as of yet then surely it could find a nomination after an album like MESTARIN KYNSI.

While ORANSSI PAZUZU seems unable to deliver a substandard album, it is utterly amazing at how this band has continued to progress its experimental psychedelic infused metal craft into ever tighter fine-tuned epic compositions that have found the perfect balance between the most extreme metal bombast and the lucid dreaming airy ambience that sounds as if it has broken Earth's orbit and set loose in the expansiveness of outer space. Somehow knowing exactly when to break the monotonous spell and take nosedives at hairpin speed precision into progressive fits of rage, this is one band that defies all logic and keeps you on your toes throughout this exhilarating turbulent ride. Having shown even greater potential with the band's latest collaboration with Dark Buddha Rising as The Waste of Space Orchestra, ORANSSI PAZUZU demonstrates clearly how they can now stand on their own two feet and conquer the extreme metal world with a distinctly unique sound that doesn't let up until the very last notes of the frightening drone-fueled closer 'Taivaan Portti' ceases its metallic orotund hysteria. Needless to say, this one exceeded all expectations. All bow down to the new metal masters.

"Värähtelijä" is the 4th full-length studio album by Finnish, Tampere based extreme metal act Oranssi Pazuzu. The album was released through Svart Records in February 2016. It´s the successor to "Valonielu" from 2013.

Stylistically the material on "Värähtelijä" is a continuation of the style the band introduced on their debut full-length studio album "Muukalainen Puhuu (2009)" and further developed on "Kosmonument (2011)" and "Valonielu (2013)". It´s a a psychadelic blackened extreme metal style, which is strongly influenced by 60s/70s psychadelic rock (I hear quite a few 1968-69 Pink Floyd influences in the music and some early Hawkwind too) and 60s/70s Krautrock artists like Faust and especially Can. It´s slow building and hypnotic music featuring repetitive beats and bass lines, raw noisy and some atmospheric mellow guitars, swirling psychadelic synths, and a raspy black metal voice in front. The atmosphere is dense and dark, and even in the most mellow atmospheric parts there is an underlying ominous mood to the compositions, which works really well for Oranssi Pazuzu.

Although the material on the 7 track, 69:13 minutes long album, is obviously composed featuring structures (not regular vers/chorus ones though), which develop throughout the tracks, there is a loose organic feel to how the band perform their parts, which provides the music with an unpredictable jam type element. It´s actually one of their strongest assets, although they sometimes seem to get lost in their jams and let them last a bit too long. That´s of course an aquired taste, so I won´t hold it too much again them, and I am greatly entertained throughout most of the album. I´d like to mention the 17:39 minutes long "Vasemman Käden Hierarkia" as one of the highlights of the album, but all tracks are high quality compositions.

"Värähtelijä" is a well produced release too, which features a dark, gritty, and organic sounding production, which suits the material perfectly. So upon conclusion "Värähtelijä" is another strong release by Oranssi Pazuzu. It´s not a revolution of their by now trademark sound, and maybe a bit of development is in order by now, but it´s hard to deny the great qualities of the release and it doesn´t completely feel like Oranssi Pazuzu have stagnated and don´t have anything new to offer either, so a 4 star (80%) rating is still deserved.

If ever there was a band to finally warrant the creation of a fully-fledged subgenre called psychedelic space metal, then this Finnish band, ORANSSI PAZUZU surely must catalyze that process to the breaking point even if a gazillion other spacey metal bands ranging from Arcturus, Smohalla, A Forest Of Stars, Nachmystium, Hail Spirit Noir or even certain aspects of Sigh didn't exactly get it there. It must be that ORANSSI PAZUZU (Finnish for "orange" plus the name of a wind demon from Babylonian mythology) simply has done it so well, that is in mixing psychedelic space rock with black metal that is literally impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins at times despite there being clear cut phases where each dominates the sonic scene. This debut release MUUKALAINEN PUHUU ("The Alien Speaks") pulls off the perfect marriage of psychedelia and space oriented rock with a black metal ugliness. The album cover alone tells exactly what's in store, namely an extraterrestrial journey into the inner and outer recesses of the darkened cosmos above and within. The spacey organs bring early 70s Krautrock bands to mind and the repetitive rhythmic grooves do indeed bring bands like Can and Neu to mind.

The sounds on MUUKALAINEN PUHUU are characterized by long and drawn-out sweeping progressive sonicscapes that establish a darkened and tripped out atmospheric presence with ample use of ambient effects and synthesized avant-garde fixings. Once these psychedelic mood enhancers are fully established, the five musicians who make up this band from Tempere lets loose with some heavy grooves that somehow simultaneously evoke the heavy psych pioneers of the past while still allowing a black metal bleakness to rip through the veneer. Generally speaking, the guitar riffs are groovy in composition but distorted and blackened in tone and intensity. The raspy vocals of Jun-His are what keep the overall sound grounded in a pure black metal feel as do the heavy riffs but when strange lounge lizard type keyboard runs dance around the distorted string section it creates a most peculiar contrast but somehow the crystal clear production has a way of balancing out the opposing forces. Some of the organ and synthesizers sound haunting like lost ghosts on the solar winds.

This isn't the kind of black metal that's vile and vicious. There is no buzz saw feedback wall of sound nor are there angry and hateful temper tantrums. This is a cold and mysterious type of metal with swirling sounds and carefully unleashed aggressiveness that perfectly accompanies the imagery and perhaps the most ideal of space shuttle soundtracks for metal heads. Perhaps one of the reasons this combo effect works so well is the common element that both heavy psych and black metal share and that would be the repetition of grooves that keep the listener hooked and hypnotized. ORANSSI PAZUZU pulls off a double play in this regard as this music both stimulates and mesmerizes simultaneously and always remains spectral while guitar riffs that seem to go slightly in and out of tune provide an underlying tension. While some tracks are heavier and deliver a more raw second wave black metal attack, some parts sound more like they could have been just as comfortable in some 60s club setting minus the raspy vocals of course. ORANSSI PAZUZU's debut is quite the captivating listen as it not only has a totally unique sound already fully established but varies the tracks enough to keep the magic alive for an entire album's worth of material. While they would perfect their fusion techniques on subsequent releases, MUUKALAINEN PUHUU is already an astonishing psych metal album in its own right.