Showing posts with label old school finnish death metal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label old school finnish death metal. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Rippikoulu - Musta Seremonia

Rippikoulu - Musta Seremonia
1993 / Death Metal, Doom Metal


Rippikoulu is as heavy as the hearts of Finns in the dead cold of winter. The demo Musta Seremonia encompasses this harsh, dark environment with it's sledge hammer riffs and melancholic atmosphere. 

While the production quality is a bit subpar, it perfectly fits the rawness of this demo. The guitar tone is one of my favorite aspects. With very dirty and undefined characteristics, it gives the music a chaotic and natural sound. 

Rippikoulu does a great job of evenly splitting the music between death and doom, allowing each genre to truly compliment the other. The doom passages provide an excellent build-up to the faster, death-influenced riffs, and the occasional use of synthesizers adds a beautiful atmosphere to the whole mix.

Favorite Song: Ikuinen Piina

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Weekly album: Lubricant - Nookleptia

Lubricant - Nookleptia
1993 / Death Metal


1. Monohemerous Joy
2. Thrombose
3. Declaration of Gallopping Consumption
4. Laceration of Vasoconstrictive Emotion
5. Expulsive Gastroscopia
6. Semistarvation


Orostider: Lubricant could be considered as a hidden gem of the Finnish death metal scene. Even if their career was brief in years, their releases are considered to be cult these days. The reason why I chose 'Nookleptia' as my weekly pick, was the album's minimal publicity among people outside the local scene and the simple fact that in my opinion 'Nookleptia' is a must hear album for everyone into old school death metal. 

Lubricant's rock n' roll influenced death metal is ,in my opinion, one of the most interesting takes on the genre. The hint of progressiveness and the overall unusual sound of Lubricant could have given a bad name amongst death metal purists, but for some reason their material is equally embraced by the traditional death metal listeners and the people looking for more experimental sound. Lubricant could also be described as the lesser known cousin of Xysma, since both of them had such an unorthodox take on death metal in the nineties. I'm unable to pick my favourite song from this album, because all six of them are almost equally solid pieces.

tp5170: I am not a huge fan of death metal in general, but every now and then bands that manage to raise my interest towards the genre pops up. Lubricant happens to be one of those bands. This is probably because it lacks some of the common characteristics of a death metal band, - I mean it definitely sounds like one and same time it doesn’t. 

Nookleptia packs an unimaginable amount of positive energy and it has a very groovy nature and yet it doesn’t fail to give the death metal vibes. It manages not to go over the board with any of the elements, creating a fairly balanced and unique sound. As a listener, you also get this feeling that the band is not taking things all too seriously, which is a nice touch in this case.  To put it shot, it’s simply a fun album to listen to.

Brent Carey: "Nookleptia" is a classic, and a bit unorthodox, EP from Finnish death metal band Lubricant. The band's golden era took place during the Finnish death metal movement of the early 90's  and this EP is the pinnacle of their short, yet impressive discography.

Nookleptia perfectly showcases Lubricant's style; heavy, groovy, death metal with elements of 70's old school heavy metal. This tie to the roots of heavy metal really separates Lubricant from other death metal bands of the era and is honestly just really fun to listen to. The guitar riffs and tone have a very Black Sabbath feel to them while the drums and vocals are almost exclusively death metal. Give this EP a listen if you're a fan of aberrant death metal or if you like 70's heavy metal and want a relatively modern take on it.

Favorite Song: Laceration of Vasoconstrictive Emotion

Kattroll: Although death metal usually has sort of a morbid sound, this album has a joyful touch that makes you feel gladness. That's quite unorthodox for a death metal band. It was great to see that they still had joy in playing together when I saw their two gigs last year. Whereas other bands wiped all signs of happiness from their faces, Lubricant was not afraid to show the positive vibe of theirs. Also, the fun fact is that I was born the same year this was released. 5/5 Finnish death metal.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Torture Killer - Swarm!

Torture Killer - Swarm!
2006 / Death metal


Even though Torture Killer isn't an extremely technical or innovative band they have produced quality Finnish death metal for the past 14 years and show no evidence of slowing their pace. Their 2006 release "Swarm!" showcases their distinctive groovy, yet tight riffs, as well as ex Cannibal Corpse vocalist Chris Barnes' iconic vocal style. With lyrics about violence, debauchery, and gore this is an album for any death metal fan.

Favorite Song: A Violent Scene of Death