Category: Albums

{mosimage}It is already 10 years since the first album release by the Finnish band, and they come back stronger than ever with their sixth studio album!

Painstained is probably the best Finnish rock-metal album that I have listened to in the last month. You can really notice there the hand of “magician” producer Hiili Hiilesmaa, the man behind the sound in albums of huge bands like Sentenced, Apocalyptica, HIM or the Portuguese Moonspell.

Hiilesmaa have made possible that Entwine runs away from the more classic brutal sound that usually Spinefarm´s bands have, achieving a very well balanced and squared album that can really hit the mainstream audience. Mika Tauriainen´s vocal skills are superb and songs like Soul Sacrifice, Strife, Lost in My Denial or Greed of Mankind are instant classics.

Let’s see how 2009 goes for the Finnish metatheads, because they certainly deserve bigger international attention. For the moment, you have the chance to check them out live very soon in the Spinefeast 2009 that will take place 29th-30th of January.

Rating 4/5

Related articles:

Interview with Mika Tauriainen:

http://www.freemagazine.fi/content/view/899/152/

{mosimage}The Finnish singer, who became very famous in her native country after representing it in the Eurovision song contest in Helsinki a few years ago, release her fourth studio album.

I think that Hanna was unfairly voted in the Eurovision song contest. Maybe she did not perform an amazing act to win, but she is still a singer with excellent vocal skills, like she shows once more in this new record filled with pop and soft rock and the unavoidable ballads.

With a sound that drinks from the 80s, Hanna offers a collection (not a big collection though, only 9 tracks) of easy-listening songs, where we could highlight the introductory Almost Real or the more rocking single Shout it Loud.

I still believe that the weak point is that the album is aimed mainly at a young female audience. Most of male listeners will find it too “soft” for rock and too cheesy for pop, although you can always use it to create a romantic atmosphere with candles and wine in a snowy winter night with some special company close to you.

The album is basically offering what you expect, no more no less, but it would be nice to see Hanna in the future rocking a bit wilder.

Rating 3/5

{mosimage}One of the strongest debut releases in American metal scene, a band that sounds great in studio and are not afraid to backing it up on Tour.

Hungarian Zoltan Bathory (ex member of U.P.O.) formed 5FDP in 2005. The musicians are young but not inexperienced, since they have a strong background, having played with bands such as W.A.S.P., Motograter or Anubis Rising.

What you have here is 12 tracks of metal “on your face”. Music is direct and a bit raw (same than the excellent artwork of the album), but also compact and with good melody. You get a good impression from the beginning from this fans of Kill Bill (the name of the band is extracted from the blow that Uma Thurman gives to David Carradine at the end of the second part of the Tarantino´s saga), with the outstanding track Ashes and the album continue evolving you, special mention for the good skills of the vocalist Ivan “Ghost” Moody, who knows when to scream and when to soften the tone (if not take a glimpse at his excellent work in the 4th track The Bleeding), mastering the tempo of the songs and receiving a great help from the rest of the band with the back-up vocals. Guitar riffs are sharp like a knife, but overall is the brutal drums of Jeremy Spencer what keeps pushing and pushing the album all the way until the end.

Although maybe does not sound so classy metal, the quality of the record stands itself to gain fast a good legion of fans, no wonder that sold 300.000 copies while the band introduced it touring extensively in North America; it is certainly a superb first effort and specially if you like bands like Korn, you will adopt them into your CD collection in no time.

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}One of the most veteran Spanish rock bands is back on the road after a few years of silence with a new and deliciously incorrect album.

After having signed with Roadrunner, the Basque band from Vitoria is back again with this Mala Sangre (“Bad Blood”). SA was in the middle of a big polemic a few years ago, when their lyrics were targeted by some sectors of the Spanish society as being praising the terrorism. Finally, the band was absolved in court of any responsibility, and here they are again with the songs and far from other turbulent business out of their music.

What you have here is an album that sounds rounded, well measured, powerful, “thrashy” but also with some touches of punk and classic rock, and with Juan, the lead singer, shouting again acid lyrics that complain about the Government and the established forces of power in the society.

If you do not understand Spanish, this is obviously going to undermine your perception of SA, because the lyrics have really a strong political content and a lot of slang. Maybe is not the best rock band in Spain from a technical point of view, neither have the best vocalist, but their charisma on and off stage is still ranking very high. If you enjoy discovering rock bands that do not only sing in English, and listening to lyrics loaded with rage and messages, SA is for you.

Rating 3/5

{mosimage}Finnish doom phenomena are back holding hands with Spinefarms Records and bringing an unusual new album.

Certainly this Plague of Butterflies is not the usual doom studio album that you could expect from many other bands. The main “corpus” of the work is an unique track of more than 30 minutes divided into 3 movements: Losing the Sunsets, Plague of Butterflies and Evael 10:00. This starts to have more sense when you realize that the project was composed originally for a ballet (yeah baby, doom ballet…) and after the cancellation, it became part of this new studio album that gets completed with 4 more bonus tracks from the first period of the band, for scoring a total playing time of a bit more than 1 hour.

Even when the Finnish musicians put a lot of effort into this product, I am not sure if even their hardcore fans will be able to swallow this “pill”. Dark melodies, decadent sounds and some cutting riffs trademark of the band are very present here, but I am still not convinced of the vocal skills of Mikko. I do not think he has the charisma enough to lead the band with sense, and in the end, after a few minutes, you can feel kind of lost (or bored) with such a long and “never-ending” track.

Probably if you would hear the track in the right context, as the original soundtrack it was supposed to be, the result could be different, but just like this looks like a dead material that had to be released in one way or another, so the final result is weak and without harmony.

Rating 2/5.  

{mosimage}One of the most complete compilations of the best Finnish rock hits of the past year.

Now that 2008 has just finished, it is an excellent time to make balance of all what the Finnish rock and metal scene offered during 2008. And surely, nobody can deny that it is going through a sweet moment, with veteran bands in good shape and new interesting ones appearing behind every stone. In this double CD you will find a bit of everything among the 32 tracks: heavyweights of Finland´s rock scene such as Nightwish, The Rasmus, Negative, Apulanta o the Euro-Teräsbetoni together with new blood with young bands of excellent quality such as Automatic Eye, Lovex (these ones are young but veterans) Dirty Fingernails or the dangerous girls of Pintandwefall. And as the cherry on top of the cake, one of the best melodic rock bands that you can find in Europe nowadays: Brother Firetribe.  

As all the albums that try to gather material from so many different bands, there are good and bad sides. It is an excellent chance to discover new Finnish bands, or an excellent album to give as a present to a friend eager to discover the rock music of Finland, but it does not scratch much deeper, and mixes bands that go from punk to merely pop. If you go to the official website of the album www.rock2008.fi, there is the chance to listen to a sample of every song, which surely will make easier the decision of purchasing the album and will avoid unpleasant surprises about what to expect there (although it is pretty obvious what to expect there).

All in all, I enjoyed listening to the selection and the album shows once more that Finland and its music really kick ass!  

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}If you like British Power Metal, certainly you are going to be delighted listening to the new album of Marshall Law. 

The band is not new in the metal scene. With seven albums behind their backs and a career that spins around 2 decades, they feature their new studio album, a result of a long process of 3 years of writing and recording. If you are into bands like Saxon or Judas Priest, then definitely you will be into this immediately after turning on  your stereo. Andy Pyke´s vocals sounds charismatic, and the homonymous track of the album, Razorhead, is a great example of what they offer: cutting guitar riffs, blowing drums and no time to retake your breath. Gods of Deception or Night Terror are also a couple of good examples why to purchase this one. 

The good thing is that this work is a solid album of power metal. The bad feature is that basically does not add much new to the genre. Veteran metal heads will be happy to include it in their CD collection, but maybe younger ones prefer to skip it in search or more adventurous musical experiences. 

Rating 3/5.    

{mosimage}Third album for this Goth cult band that has enjoyed during the last decade great success in Germany or Holland with their danceable songs. 

The lovers of goth indunstrial music are just shaking with joy with the come back of the Norwegian Gothminister. There are not big changes with predecessors’ albums, the band continues with the similar formula that so good results brought in the past: danceable tracks able to hit the dance floors of the clubs, such as Dusk till Dawn or Your Saviour. There is also space for more introspective and beautiful tracks like Darkside and more ravaging ones like the catchy Freak, paying homage to the classic Michael Jackson’s Thriller song. 

All in all, a good work that does not make you feel bored at all, although sounding classic and familiar at the same time. A must have for goth music fans who like to move their feet in the dark of the night. 

Rating 3/5.      

{mosimage}This young formation is hitting hard and mercilessly! You will have to see them soon opening for Lauren Harris in Helsinki.

Silentrain are coming from Kitee, the same small population near the Russian border that saw the birth of Nightwish. And you can find some similarities in the style between both bands, although here you can find maybe a more direct classical approach to metal instead of so much symphonic ornamentation. Previously known as Dunces (the new name sounds much better, don’t you think?), they feature their third studio album, first one with StayHeavyRecords.

What you will find here is a good collection of metal. Great work with the instruments by the guys, you can notice that here are many hours of hard practice in their backs, and from the beginning the album sounds solid and well produced, with the epic Until You Break giving a great start and No More representing an awesome follow-up. Broken has a similar sound to the great Nightwish classics, maybe a bit more thrashy instead of harmonic, but it perfectly works and Ride with the Devil has that touch of instant classic that makes it be my favorite track of the album. Marko Kämäräinen makes a great job with the vocals, and certainly the impression is that the band has been on the road for longer time than actually has.

Added to this, the CD artwork is great, so the band can feel totally satisfied with the result of the album. I hope that after new chances to play in front of bigger audiences will appear soon for these talented metal heads.

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}The most famous Estonian blues band strikes powerfully back in 2008 with two new and superb albums.

There have been significance changes in the structure of Bullfrog Brown, with the departure of long-time harp player Üllar Kärt at the end of 200, and the band now settled as a duo composed by Alar Kriisa on vocals and Andres Roots on guitar, but the essence remains the same, if not better, leaving the two remaining members more freedom to jam and join forces with other musicians such as British harpist Steve Lury or the Scottish Dave Arcari. 

The young talented Estonian bluesmen feature a new studio album: Mother River Delta. Condensed in less than 20 minutes of total playing time, Alar and Andres go straight to business playing raw Delta Blues. No time here for excessive ornamentation in the sound. The guys know what they want to deliver, and they do it fast: Alar´s broken voice sounds like if he was just born to sing Blues, and Andres pushes firmly mastering the strings of the guitar.  These are not recently composed songs; actually the excellent introductory Nobody the Skull dates back to 1996 and the rest of songs have been composed at different years during the last decade. The follow-up track, Special Rider, has a catchy wiping guitar riff that surely makes you move your feet and this leads to 30, my favourite track of the album, with acid lyrics and a perfect graduation of the musical tempo.

The album decreases a bit in intensity during its second part, but the ending Rain definitely puts the cherry on top of the cake creating a relaxed musical atmosphere that transports your instantly to the Mississippi delta. The message transmitted by the album seems clear; while with their previous Snakes and Devils, details aimed at trying to delight bigger audiences, this time the guys just want to show that they do not give a damn about playing other thing that what they really love to, Delta Blues with roots (and with guts). Mother River Delta was released last April while the band hit the stages of London, but if you do not have it yet, do not waste your time waiting for 2009 to get one copy! 

Added to the previous one, and just released in the market, you also have the chance to listen to the new official live bootleg of the Bullfrog: Twelve Live Warthogs. It combines 6 tracks recorded on June 26th 2008 at Tampere Maja (Tartu) with 6 more recorded during their show on December 13th 2007 at Trehv (Tartu). The record compiles a great collection of songs that give you a good idea of how they sound live, with that tiny shy guy that Alar is totally transformed when holding the micro, like if he would be the Dr Jekyll/Mr Hide of the Estonian blues scene. Great anthems of the band like Build me a Statue, Phantom Menace or Snakes Were Gettin’ are compulsorily included there, sounding better than ever, and as a special surprise the final track includes the improvised song: Papa Wolf. 

Who said blues is dead? Bullfrog Brown’s music just leads you to hold a good bottle of whisky and think about an old lost love. In the end it is all about the Blues.    

Rating 4/5

{mosimage}Sending greetings from their new local neighborhood, this brother/sister duo from Kajaani is focused on conquering the Finnish indie pop market! 

Well, it is true that when you cannot beat the system, you have to change the strategy. Disappointed by the lack of recognition in their native country, Sami and Päivi packed their stuff and headed to London one year ago. And certainly, the experience of playing and surviving in the English capital must have enriched their talent, because their first full length is simply superb. It has everything you can expect from an indie pop band: great lyrics, some mischief and overall the transmitted feeling of having a great fun! 

The first song A European Scream is basically blowing, I just instantly loved it, and although I would have chosen some other more charismatic tracks than Bruno for being the first single, (maybe it could have worked better as second one), the album just improves and improves the more you listen to it. Marianne Faithfull is a great wink to an alive music legend and the fun goes on and on with catchy tracks like Chop Suey or the ending cherry on top of the cake, the sweet The World Comes for a Visit. 

There is of course space for some traditional Finnish melancholia here in the album, but poured into your ears in a way that feels like grabbing a beer and exclaiming “what the fuck, let’s forget and enjoy the present”.  

English are lucky counting with Dirty Fingernails there, so we just hope that soon they will invade back their native country to make us share that good vibe. A great debut album! 

Rating 4/5.

Related articles:

Interview with Sami

http://www.freemagazine.fi/content/view/850/152/

{mosimage}The charismatic singer from Ostrobothnia and his band offer a good compilation of their hits with some nice extras in this double CD-DVD.

Lauri Tähkä has climbed step by step in the Finnish charts until becoming one of the most beloved local artists by the Finnish audience. Their peculiar style, pop-rock that flirts with folk and traditional Finnish music has brought some fresh air and danceable rhythms to the music scene. What you will find here is a collection of their greatest hits for the past 8 years, with already contemporary Finnish classics like Maailma on renki, Reikäinen taivas or Pauhaava sydän. Also as a special gift, 2 new unreleased songs: Kaisa and Kuriittamma rakastamma and a second DVD disc with a live concert recorded in the recent Ruisrock festival and a documentary; excellent to check the powerful live shows of Lauri and his friends.  

I personally saw their gig at Provinssirock last summer, and certainly this guy is charismatic, much warmer on stage than most of the Finnish singers you can see around, skilled in creating a connection with the audience.

Framed in the invasion of compilation albums released now that Christmas time gets closer, this Kirkkahinnat is still a pretty recommendable compilation for both fans or people who want to discover a bit more about Finnish pop-rock.  

Rating 4/5.

Related articles:

Interview with Lauri Tähkä

http://www.freemagazine.fi/content/view/366/117/

{mosimage}Beloved by the Finnish audience and a compulsory band to have in whatever Finnish summer festival, the guys from Heinola are back!

I must admit that it is difficult for me to be objective when rating an Apulanta´s album. They are basically my favorite Finnish band (singing in Finnish) and the one I started to listen to systematically when I arrived to Finland years ago. Apart from that, when we have met the guys for interviews or at gigs in the past they have always been very friendly and nice with me.

What we have here is the tenth album of a band young but very experienced, that was able to overcome some big problems last year with the distribution and promotion of their previous album by basically pulling the strings themselves and releasing this new one with under their own record company.

The guys are not anymore those crazy punks showing discomfort with everything around, which in a way is good and bad. Kuutio lacks maybe of spontaneity and rage, but it also shows as a more mature album with carefully built lyrics and good production. Kaikki sun pelkosi is an excellent choice fire up the first shot in the album, and although Vauriot decreases the rhythm a bit, the illusion comes back with catchy songs like Ravistettava ennen käyttöä, that sounds like it would perfectly be included in their live set lists, or the excellent Pakkomielle. The artwork of the CD, modern and stylish is also a strong point for the Finnish guys.

Maybe if you prefer the more powerful punk sound and attitude of Apulanta´s first years, this album could disappoint you, but otherwise it will provide you with some classic good rock from musicians who totally feel confident with what they are doing.  

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}The fourth and new album by the Welsh rockers is out in the streets. 

Released by their own label, Join Us Records, here comes the new work of Funeral for a friend, just when few days ago their bassist player Gareth Davies decided to leave the band. With a very polished artwork and a nicely design cover, the album is in a way a look back at the roots of the band, with more powerful guitar riffs and a direct harder sound, like in the raw Constant Illuminations with an explosive battering drum work pushing the lyrics, although my favorite track is the second one To Die Like Mouchette. 

FFAF shows that not only Manic Street Preachers deserve a place of honor in the actual Welsh music scene. What they bring here is a squared good rock album, and surely old fans will be delighted with the progression made. 

Rating 4/5

{mosimage}The Nu-Metal pioneers from San Diego are featuring their seventh studio album. 

One of the highlights of this album is the presence back in the band of Marcos Curiel. The album seems to be working pretty well in the charts, and it is nice to see how P.O.D. continues in good shape through the years. 

Although with some songs retaining the same old rap-metal style, like End of the World, the point is that this is album has a much softer vibe than previous ones. Many ballads and mid-tempo tracks like It can’t rain any day or I’ll be ready. Not necessarily a bad feature, since the songs sound great and with cohesion, but just do not expect so much of the old rage in this new album.  This new album is certainly a good effort for the veteran Christian rock band, very listenable. 

Rating 4/5