Category: Albums

{mosimage}From Hamina comes Paganus, spreading their doom metal all over Finland. 

What do Hamina, a small population in Finland, and Jerusalem, the capital or Israel, have in common? Well…at least one doom metal band called Paganus. The 5 members of the Finnish band entered the studio in 2006 to record their first album, with only 4 tracks but almost 50 minutes length, since a couple of tracks are over 11 minutes and the final one Stab runs for more than 16 minutes, and seems that they did not find much support from their native record labels (doom is not so popular genre in Finland) so they released finally with TotalRust Music, an Israelian label.

The band is composed by Manu Liira on the guitar, Teemu Muhli on the bass, Tomi Pekkola as drummer, Mikko Nenonen helping with the noise and Markus Lanki on the vocals.If you like other doom bands like Burning Witch or Neurosis, this kind of sound will ring a bell in your head. For the rest, maybe it can be too extreme. In any case, the work still smells like a young band that has a long way to mature, and more amount of tracks in future albums without abusing of running time would be more than welcome, otherwise the album gets to be too monotonous. 

Rate 2/5.

{mosimage}A classic heavy metal style for a new band coming from Tampere. 

When the Empire Falls is a relatively new band that exploded during the last year 2007 when they won a contest for new bands that allowed them to play at Provinssirock festival in Seinäjoki. After releasing The Blood in Your Hands, the band strikes back soon again in the beginning of 2008 with their homonymous album When the Empire Falls. Lyrics in English for a project started by 2 friends: guitar players Rami Jämsä and Markus Härkönen.

For being almost a debutant band, the work is compact and mature, and surprises me the excellent skills on the vocals of Tommi Tahuanpää. Apart from that, the guys from Tampere have got a great chance to promote themselves with the opportunity of playing with the “hottest metal band in Finland nowadays”: the Euro-Teräsbetoni, in 2 gigs in Turku and Tampere. Nice classic metal tracks like When the Empire Falls, Sinner or Judgment Awaits  with powerful drums backing up the vocals, but once again the band will face the same problem: there are dozens of bands of the same style appearing in the Finnish market every year, and it is becoming very difficult to give the big step and jump from small clubs to bigger arenas.

In any case, When the Empire Falls seems to have the energy, the talent and the youth to get it, so keep a close eye on them! 

Rate: 3/5.

{mosimage}André Matos, ex vocalist of Angra, introduce us his first solo album. 

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razilian singer Andre Matos has undoubtedly one of the most privileged voices in the international heavy metal scene. Due to him was the great success around the world of his previous band, Angra, and the marvelous albums Holy Land and Angels Cry.Seems by the title that Matos was missing more freedom for creating the music he really wants, so nothing better like making his first solo album to show the world that he has reached the maturity as musician to take care of a whole project.

Together with him, the Mariutti brothers (ex members of Shaman where Matos also belonged) and produced by the legendary Roy Z and Sascha Paeth. We are talking about big names in the metal scene here, so that can give an idea of the ambition poured into this project. A great piano intro in Menuett that leads to a varied amount of great metal songs: from the exuberance of Rio to the balanced calm in Face the End, every song matches perfectly in a puzzle that finally gets transformed in a little piece of art of the heavy metal genre.

If you liked previous Matos ´work, surely you are going to love Time to Be Free.

Rate 4/5.  

{mosimage}It must feel funny to release your first solo album when you are 52, but once The Jayhawks disbanded after 20 years on the road, singer, songwriter and guitar player Gary Louris decided to step up and release his first solo album. (Actually, I’m writing this review on the singer’s 53rd birthday).

The last time The Jayhawks played in Finland was at Tavastia in 2004. There presented their last album, Rainy Day Music, a mostly acoustic album, that combined the best of traditional American roots music, from The Band to Crosby, Still, Nash & Young to Gram Parsons, spiced up with that characteristic pop sensibility of Louris’ compositions.

In Vagabonds, Gary Louris continues the same path: timeless American music. For producing the album, he recruited long time friend and Black Crowes’ singer Chris Robinson. The result is a laid back album with lots of acoustic guitar, pedal steel and typical songwriting and singing from Louris.

With the input of Chris Robinson, the songs some of the songs are decorated with a touch of psychedelic sounds (especially in I Wanna Get High) and an interesting gospel choir, The Laurel Canyon Family Choir, that includes among others Robinson himself, Jenny Lewis and Susanna Hoffs (yes, the same one of The Bangles).

The title track, Vagabonds, is probably the most outstanding tune. It’s a classic Louris composition as perfect as Blue or Waiting for the Sun can be.

This album might not top The Jayhawks legacy. But that’s not an easy task at all since The Jayhawks’ discography is one of the most perfect a band has made in the last twenty years. Still Vagabonds is beautiful, remarkable and relevant.

Rating 4/5 

{mosimage}Lennosta kii! is a joint venture between singer Johanna Iivanainen and saxophonist Eero Koivistoinen (and his band), that makes jazz versions of Finnish pop and rock classics.

A daring concept, since many of these songs are classics of Finnish popular music and making jazz versions of them could easily mean watering them down, but this album is made with certain confidence. No wonder: the same team made a record, called Suomalainen and having a similar concept, couple of years ago.

From a technical point of view, this is a fantastic record. Iivanainen is certainly a talented and versatile singer, and the musicians handle their jobs very well. It sounds like these people don’t just perform the music, they are living it.

In its own genre Lennosta kii! truly must be a triumphant success: this is evident from the carefully constructed arrangements and soulful performances. However, I found myself – not being much of a jazz freak – thinking this is too clean, too perfect, too devoid of mistakes, to really genuinely touch me. Of course, not every kind of music must sound like it was made a amateur punk rock band, but at times this sounds too much like music aimed at coffee tables to have a serious impact.

Anyhow, for jazz enthusiastic and all open-minded music lovers in general, Lennosta kii! is certainly worth checking out.

Rate 3/5

{mosimage}New Finnish bands are rarely as interesting as Eleanoora Rosenholm (yes, despite the name this is a band, not a solo artist).

First, it is sort of Finnish alternative rock super group, the members being known from such bands as Lowlife Rock’n’roll Philosophers, Magyar Posse, Circle and Kuusumun Profeetta. Second, the fictional story behind the band (involving a serial killer called Eleanoora Rosenholm) is quite fascinating. And third, the music is very good.

Eleanoora Roosenholm’s leftfield synthpop is weird enough to be interesting for those who don’t care for mainstream music, but pop enough to suit those who do. The atmosphere is morbid yet treacherously captivating, just like in a good horror movie. With all the lyrics about murders and something-that-is-not-specified being wrong, Vainajan muotokuva (“portrait of the deceased”) is a somewhat brooding record, but in a good way.

Right from the album opener Musta ruusu, it is clear that Eleanoora Rosenholm may be playing pop music, but very different from your usual chart pop. Tracks like Ovet ja huoneet and Kodinrakennusohjeet are brilliant examples of melodic, easily accessible pop music with a sinister twist. The two instrumentals on the record also work out well in creating the atmosphere. Kiltti vai tuhma? is, in its innocence, catchiness and pop sensibility, somewhat different from the rest of the album, but that only makes the record interesting.

A bloodcurdling debut album from a band that certainly is quite unique in the current Finnish rock music scene. I truly hope we’ll be hearing a lot from them in the future.

Rate 4/5

{mosimage}The Finnish metal band The Scourger offers you 11 tracks of ferocious trash metal ready to rip your head clean off. 

Finland is better known for their gothic and power metal bands, but there is space for a wide range in the healthy Finnish metal scene. A good proof is the new work of The Scourger: Dark Invitation to Armaggedon, that turns to be one of the best surprises in European thrash music scene during the last months.

Jari Hurskainen (former Gandalf singer) is powerful and hammering in the vocals, and the good lyrics are supported by the crazy drumming of Seppo Tarvainen. This is their second studio album, and the first single: Never Bury the Hatchet, has worked very well in the Finnish charts. After having toured in 2007 with Impaled Nazarene and having appeared in the soundtrack of the Finnish movie V2: Frozen Angel, the band faces new challenges as their appearance in the Finnish Metal Expo in February, an excellent event to take the pulse of the Finnish metal industry.

A special mention for the excellent cover artwork by Joe Petagno, an internationally well known cover designer who has done previous stuff for people like Motörhead, Alice Cooper or Pink Floyd. A work that linking the concepts of the Armageddon and the devil turns, from my humble point of view, into one of the best metal covers that I have ever seen. A classy touch and stylish design for the Finnish guys ´album, that becomes an excellent and mature introduction for a work that confirms them as the freshest and most powerful alternative in the Finnish trash metal scene. Let´s see what future brings them . If you like Trash, pretty recommendable. If not, better stick to other more classic Finnish metal bands.

Rate 4/5.

{mosimage}The Finnish freaky instrumental rock quintet is back with their third studio album. Groovy sounds with a rocking approach that will make move your feet!

Grave Groove is the third studio album from the crazy party Finnish bastards, as they have been baptized in some international media, The Mutants. Nonetheless, they music is difficult to get constrained to categorization: it sounds like garage rock with African touches here and there and a certain feeling of Series B movie in the air while listening to it. In any case, better judge yourself!The point is that the rhythms are catchy.

Vocals are non-existent in most of the album, although they count in some parts with the guest appearance of Nadi Hammouda, but there are not missed while listening to the album. Songs like Outerspace Odyssey will undoubtedly get into your mind and remain there the rest of the day. Guitars riffs are catchy and sensual, and all transmits a feeling of good old rock played in a dessert beach in some point of the Caribe. “Latino spirit” is also very present in the album, if not, pay attention to the titles of the songs:  El Matador del Diablo or CMC Carlos Muchas Cervezas, although you do not get surprised if you see that some members of the band have nicknames such as El Toro or Juan Emperor.

If you want to listen something fresh, a bit of space rock mixed in an explosive cocktail with mambo to move your hips, explore the sound of The Mutants. For me, the album is one of the nicest surprises of the beginning of 2008.

Rate 4/5

{mosimage}Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen assembles a great metal opera in this double CD that counts with very special guests from the heavy metal scene.

Not a long time ago we reviewed in FREE! Magazine the awaited third part of Avantasia, and in the same line now is the turn of another of the best metal operas released in the last years: the new Ayreon ´s  CD (6th conceptual   album in total) with a title encrypted in a binary code:  O1011001.

After 10 years of the release of Into the Electric Castle, Lucassen  reaffirms that he still has a lot of creativity to show the world. And in the same way that in the Scarecrow, the list of participants involved in the project is also astonishing:  Tom S. Englund, Hansi Kursch (for whom I feel a special weakness, being a great Blind Guardian fan since my teenage years), Anneke van Giersbergen, Steve Lee or Jonas Renske are some of the big names that are lending their musical skills to the project.  

A musical tour de force where different metal styles get mixes in a harmonic way. It seems that the trend nowadays in the industry is developing towards eclecticism. A decade ago musicians were not so eager to experiment, having the feat of losing the fidelity of their audience, but it is coming a time in metal when it looks that the key to surviving is just to be able to not to stick to one single and defined style. Enjoy with exceptional pieces like River of Time or The Sixt Exctintion, where all the singers lend their voices. A must have for the lovers of good conceptual and epic metal.

Rating  5/5.

{mosimage}The Hell-sinki vampires want your blood again, and strike back with a live album recorded at the Whisky a Go Go club. 

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irectly from Sunset Boulevard, here comes the awaited first live album of Hell-sinki gothic band The 69 Eyes: Hollywood Kills. Recorded in the legendary Californian club Go Go Club the 24th of March, 2006, during their American tour, with all the tickets sold out, The 69 Eyes appear here as a mature band that is enjoying the best time of their career, able to put a great show together, with a solid discography and the support of a huge legion of fans not only in Finland but worldwide. The fame of the band has been helped by the charisma of the singer Jyrki 69 (a voice that sounds like Elvis embedded in a gothic style body!)  together with the irreverent looks of drummer Jussi 69.

The album counts with 16 tracks plus an introduction by Ban Margera, not missing any of the songs that the fans would dream about:  hits like Lost Boys, Brandon Lee or Gothic Girl, with sharp lyrics where they never lose opportunity to promote once more their love for women (specially blondes) and rock stars attitude that have been perfectly captured in the pictures inside the booklet, taken by acclaimed rock photographer Ville Akseli, who published last year also a book: Route 69, with these and others pics taken while traveling with the band around U.S.A.An album that comes in a perfect timing for the band after having worked hard and taken risks to succeed in the international market.

The 69 Eyes is about Booze, explosive girls and dangerous rock. The vampires are coming to suck the blood of your daughters, so be sure the doors are well closed during this (ugly) Finnish winter!

Rating 4/5. 

{mosimage}Veterans Monster Magnet are back with a new album that continues in the same line that Monolithic Baby.

Dave Wyndorf and Ed Mundell are back after 3 years with a new studio album full of straight rock & roll: 4-Way Diablo. No time for keyboards here but recovering some old essence of this band that was one of the pioneers of the space-rock in the 70s. Monster Magnet repeats the formula rescued in their previous albums and come back with tremendous guitar riffs, great lyrics and a 100% rock spirit.

An arsenal of good songs as the best therapy to exorcise the bad spirits that could wander around the band. Sometimes the compositions are strong and raw, pure stoner rock, like in the catchy Blow Your Mind with a short but brutal solo guitar riff or in the raw No Vacation, while there are also moments for ballads and softer tunes like in Cyclone; but always with the guitars shining all over the record. The band from New Jersey includes this time a more than praising cover of the Rolling Stones: 2000 Lightyears from Home with Wyndorf having nothing to envy to Mick Jagger, but adding his personal touch at the same time. The singer and main engine of the band sounds focused and in a very good shape, so we hope that all the problems that brought him to a drug overdose a couple of years ago.

Resuming, 4-Way Diablo a superb album. Monster Magnet rules!

Rating 5/5

{mosimage}Espe, Pk and Asko are back with a new studio album, still kicking ass after more than 25 years in the music industry!

22 Pistepirkko is one of the best-known groups outside Finnish
borders. Considered a cult band in many European countries like
Germany, they never get tired of going one step farther and pushing the
limits of their non-stopping creativity (that leads them to play in
side projects or to concentrate on other aspects of art such as
painting).

(Well You Know) Stuff Is Like We Yeah! has been produced teaming up with American Mark Kramer and turns into an excellent sample of all the different registers and genres that the band is able to offer. From the kicking first single and starting song Suburban Ladyland to the moody Lizard, 22 Pistepirkko exhales that special kind of confidence of a veteran band not worried neither ashamed to do just what they want.

When we visited the Keränen brothers 1 year ago at their studio in the centre of Helsinki, it was impossible not to notice their passion about music and their mastering in the use and mix of different techniques combining the old with the new. And their new release is just about it: catchy guitars and lyrics in Zombie, experimenting sounds close to the psychedelic era of The Beatles in Garbage Land or flirting with the latest British pop sounds in Summer Triangle, all their musical skills are poured into their new album, and the result is superb.

One of the best works in the entire band’s career. A must get if you want to understand one of the most fundamental band in Finnish pop-rock scene.

Rating 5/5

{mosimage}Mokoma, one of the most popular thrash and death metal Finnish bands has recently published their new album with a very catchy orange cover: Luihin ja ytimiin.

The five guys from Lappeenranta release their sixth studio album: Luihin ja ytimiin, and once more stitched to their powerful lyrics in Finnish language (another excellent work from Markko Annala, the lyrics writer, who by the way, does not like to include cursing words in the songs, quite an unexpected achievement in the genre…). But do not expect a classic and straight typical trash metal album here. Mokoma has quite a big cross-over style, and likes experimenting in the new album, mixing the rough with the smooth. The result can sound strange at the beginning, but after a couple of times listening the record you can realize how enriching the registers of the band are. For example, you can find in the four track Entistä Ehompi a style that resembles pretty much to Apulanta's latest soft punk rock, but the next track Kolmannen Asteen Kuulustelu is again pure thrash metal in your ears!

Nevertheless my favourite song of the album is Marras, with excellent guitar riffs and great vocals by Annala, closer to classic rock than to trash.

Maybe for the fanatic thrash music fans, the album can be a bit of a disappointment, but for those of you who like heterogeneous works with different styles and registers to explore, Mokoma has been able to reinvent themselves efficiently one more time. A must to hear if you like Finnish metal music!

Rating 4/5

{mosimage}Another debut album from another metal band from Riihimaki, Ultramayhem, featuring Jeremiad.

It seems that Rihimaki's metal scene is boiling lately. Added to the shocking debut album of Widescreen Mode, reviewed also in FREE! Magazine, here comes Ultramayhem and their first studio album Jeremiad. The band was formed in 2004 and had released previously some Eps.  but previously some members already had experience with a band called theReedGreenBlue. And similarly to Widescreen Mode, MySpace has been again a great source of promotion, with 15.000 visitors.

The music style can be placed closer to other Finnish bands like Suburban Tribe, United Underworld or Mokoma, and international ones like Faith no More or Pantera. Vlad Tepez on vocals starts strong and convincing in the opening track Cactae and they will be perfectly accompanied by excellent background vocals all over the album. Violent guitar riffs and non-political correct lyrics not aimed at fans of Nana Mouskouri.

But nevertheless the "amateur touch" is still tangible in the album starting from the CD box design, and continuing with the production and the sound of the band. Not a bad effort though for being the starting point of a more serious career, but the band still needs to find their own path and think bigger, far from easy imitations, otherwise they will be swallowed by the ferocious competence.

Rating 3/5

{mosimage}Leverage introduce us their second studio album: Blind Fire, turning to be one of the most interesting Finnish melodic metal bands nowadays.

After the success of their debut album Tides in 2006, it was about time for Leverage to come back thinking big with another studio album, released by not others than Frontiers Records, one of the most important metal record companies in the world. Pekka Heino, Marko Niskala and the rest of the band offer excellent lyrics and melodic songs, without an excessive orchestration, just simple good metal, but very catchy.

The opening track Shadow in the Rain or King of the Night sounds classy, reminding the good metal melodies of the 80s. Heino has really great vocal skills and the keyboard does not overwhelm the rest of the instruments, with some good and hooky guitar solos here and there like in Stormchild or Heart of Darkness, and just creates the perfect atmosphere to enjoy Pekka’s exquisite voice.When having an excellent first album, it is difficult task for many bands to continue with the same high level of creation.

But Leverage has been able to make the transition to a mainstream company and release just less than 2 years later a very recommendable follow-up. Do not expect great surprises, but just enjoy some good melodic heavy metal.

Rating 4/5