Mørket - Musta Luonto

Mørket - Musta Luonto

2015 / Crust, punk, black metal

The first time I got to know Mørket was in october 2015 when they were warming up for Cut to Fit and Feastem at Lepakkomies. I myself didn't warm up to attend the gig, because even if I've learned to listen to grindcore as the time passes, I'm not fond of the genre enough to travel to the neighboring city. Mørket first gained my attention because of its unusual name and after that I was even more aroused because of their occult artwork. The last nail to the coffin were the lyrics that are completely in Finnish. I couldn't resist myself from pressing the play button anymore and I have no regrets because of my decision. I could've added this to my top 2015 list, but at the time I was writing it, I hadn't listened to this album as much as I would've wanted to so I couldn't write anything coherent enough.

The first track is the album title song 'Musta Luonto' and it sort of reminds me of Ajattara. 'Syli' begins with pleasant punk speeding, and the intro for 'Suitset' could be heard in some 90's black metal classic. None of the aforementioned are bad attributes, rather vice versa. My favourite song is probably either the track number six, 'Kulje Kanssani', whose name itself gives me some serious Twin Peaks vibes, intentional or not, or the next track 'Suo.' The album as a whole is a befitting mess consisting of punk, crust and black metal and the combination works even better than well, even if I usually listen to the latter of the genres. Even though the lyrics deal with rather grim topics and the music itself is sort of rough, the album feels energetic and like one can figure out from the first paragraph, Finnish language is a huge pro for me. The lyrics work perfectly, are simple enough and even if they are simple, one can easily think of deeper meanings to them.

Today I sort of regret skipping the gig in autumn, but I'll probably get another chance to witness their live in future. And if there's ever going to be a physical release of this, I'm one of the eager buyers.

https://morketband.bandcamp.com

Leviathan - Scar Sighted

Leviathan - Scar Sighted

2015/ Black metal

As I was trying to figure out my top 2015 albums, this album was recommended to me and after giving it a spin I have no idea why. Yes, I do like the Leviathan song featured on the Youtube video 'Hessian Hobbies' with a child burning a ice cream stick church for fun, but I felt that this album did not offer me the same sort of music I heard on the video. The first songs on the album were basic black metal. And by basic, I mean the sort of black metal you just listen to as background music. After the first songs, the album's atmosphere started to feel distressing and in the end I anxiously waited for it to end. If I ended up in mental hospital, I would probably listen to this there. This wasn't the first time I've heard distressing black metal and black metal as a genre is not the merriest one, but this album probably won't end up on my playlist ever again. I might be the problem too, who knows.

Ensiferum - One Man Army

Ensiferum - One Man Army

2015 / Folk metal

Ensiferum used to be one of my absolute favourites, so I wanted to give one last chance to their latest album released in 2015. This was actually the second time I've listened it completely, because I was so deeply disappoint the first time that I just wanted to forget the existence of this album. Although on the album released before this one, Vesa-Matti Loiri's grand voice had an epic impact on the album's soundscape, including Frederik's vocals on otherwise fine song 'Two of Spades' was a horrid listening experience. The ending song 'Neito Pohjolan' is also to be avoided, unless ear hemorrhage is your goal. I hardly ever find female vocals to be great, and this particular song is not the hardly ever case. There are some adequate songs too, but I mostly found the songs to be dull, so the best way to enjoy them is by having a bathroom break or fetching a drink when they are played live. That's still a pro, as the older material of the band is hell of a barrage.