VIIDES LUKU - HÄVITETTY

While listening to this album I feel very proud to be a Finn, but I'm not expressing it too much ? but this album is all that I would wait for an album that I found to be the 12th in the Finland's top progressive album list in progarchives.com (the first time I saw the album on the list it was 21st I think). I never had listened to metal like I do now (and definitely NOT Viking metal) and it's all because of this album. There were 2 half-hour-epics and Moonsorrow had made some name in outside world too and it made me very curious. I'm not (definitely) going to prefer this album (masterpieces) to Edge of Sanity's ''Crimson (1996)'' and some other extreme prog metal albums that are the top notch, but if you want epic, you've got it. Not too many bands have enough balls to combine metal epics with some vulgar instruments like they do here. There are parts with harmonic and Jewish harp played by Henri Sorvali that actually fit incredibly well to the theme. Mandolin guitar is played by Marko Tarvonen. Choirs are a big plus here. There are visiting musicians that make a good addition to the singing and now they had a total choir. They actually had enough space for the both songs. Some parts of the songs suddenly become very, VERY masculine when their low, deep voice hits it. And the main star of the album is Ville Sorvali's aggressive, maniac and raw (should I say ugly?) voice, which is screaming at the same time. I'm a Finn and I can't even make a half what he is talking about, but still, the lyrics are NOT stupid. You can really see that these guys are serious in what they do and lyrics are stunningly beautiful and it's in the metaphors. ''Hävitetty'' means ''Annihilated'' in English and points to humankinds self-destructive actions and how the nature ends it all, the apocalypse. This band is presenting the pagan-metal-genre and you can hear it easily when you listen to the lyrics, if you can understand them. When there's destruction, it's because gods of elements are pissed off. What makes the album so and the band so proggy, it's the synths and the wide range of eclectic guitar riffs and sometimes the guitars are layered in 3 levels, the rhythm-guitar, solo guitar and the 12-string guitar and the song becomes very post-like and the fast drumming in the background supports this. Synths are a bit hidden in the background, but they're there and the songs become very symphonic and there are some small neo-classical parts (which, in my case, cause a gigantic eargasm). Synth-work on this album is priceless and this is my one of my favorite albums where the synths have a huge role, even when they don't maintain your sound range all the time. This is thanks to both Henri Sorvali and Markus Eurén. Drummer makes his job as a death- metal drummer and has his moments too. When the songs warms up again and again, the drummer shows his best. Marko Tarvonen does all the percussion. What makes the album so special, it caught the spirit of nature and symphonic beauty (beauty of Lapland, northern Finland) even when the album is very noisy at times and it listening isn't boring at all. Every instrument supports each other and singing is about ageless things. Global warming in the icy poles and how it causes floods and how forest fires kill people and destroy the woods. We're all depended in space and air and we should do something. Still this album isn't propaganda, it's just how it is, we're all going to die, because we are stupid.

Let's rate the songs!

Jäästä Syntynyt (Born of Ice) / Varjojen Virta (Stream of Shadows) (30:10)//*****: The album begins with the same theme that it ended, fire had destroyed all and there are some sounds of burning wood in the background. Apocalyptic guitar and synths are creating the mood for the destroyed sight of earth. In this song the power of nature is brought up, when you have the Sun melting the north pole up and water level is rising around the world, well THAT's the power and people can't really do anthing, it's depressing and so are the guitars. The song warms up quite long time, something like 6 min and then it goes aggressive. This is the metal and the guitars and Sorvali's aggressive shout breaks the silence. This dude really screams like he would be s******ed or something. ''-And the corpse carries it's own weight of water, and screams for freedom'', damn, that's deep. Song doesn't really change much during the first 20 min and that's why I like this song so much, why cut the mod when you can really enjoy the wonderful theme to the end when you really want it to be changed. Then we move to the epic ending, the main chorus moves to the more relaxed sounds scale and the harmonic and the 12-string guitar FIT, THEY FIT. The ending is epic and leaves you wondering if the band can overtop this? they did.

Tuleen Ajettu Maa (A Land Driven into Fire) (26:19)//*****(the best track): Seriously, this song is something that makes your day no matter when you listen to it and no matter what mode you are in. Song begins with the vocals about nature's spirit and the witch-drum. Jewish harp is something that I really want to bring up, how did the make this stuff up?! I was totally feeling like I would see the woods drown in flames and all living things with them and the apocalyptic theme continues with very deep, staring guitar and builds the the beginning. The start is much more faster than in the first song, because there was a intro, but this song doesn't really waste any time. The song has so many awesome guitar riffs that I'm being blown away and it really shows how eclectic Moonsorrow can be. The rhythm changes among the guitars and the drums but the theme stays and the song hasn't any hurry to anywhere and you can just chill. The choir are usually close to the climaxes and makes you want to sing with. The post-rock scene close to 10 min is also a good supplement. ''It's scared, but dies while fighting'' is my favorite phrase from this song. But my favorite part from the whole album is from 12:55 on to the end. The song changes bizarrely to guitar-diverse madness and screaming. GREAT! I was surprised when I was literally 'able' to listen this even when I didn't like metal in the first place but this is the part where the album melts the ice. Synths also show their different side in this part and drumming is awesome. The singing makes the ending memorable, because it's not singing anymore, they're just growls and screaming for the last minutes and the song moves itself to the fade out ending. This is the noisiest part because there are so much instruments at the same time and you hardly recognize the solo guitar but it's still an very beautiful, symphonic and a perfect ending which leaves you with your jaw on the floor.

Final rate: A weak 5. Still when the songs are awesome they're very fat and to my mind the intro on the first song is a bit too long and this isn't totally full-blooded prog metal album, because even the members of the band mention in their interviews that they don't support the sound of progressiveness in their music so this isn't really an every prog rock listeners dream, but if you want epic?then yeah?go get this album. It needs couple of listens if you aren't into aggressive eclectic music but it's worth it. Studio work is in all in all perfect and the only bad thing in it's sound is that some sounds top the others and I'm sure that you'll find more sounds with each listens. If you are one of those who got into progressive rock by listening progressive metal bands and then moving to more progressive artists then you can't say no to this album. And even if you can't make sense from the lyrics you can find them translated in the booklet. Enjoy

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