Kalmankantaja / Worthless Lament

One of the sadly few examples of Finnish / Russian peaceful co-existence is this split recording by Kalmankantaja, flying the flag for Finland, and Worthless Lament upholding the red, white and blue for Russia. The Finns start off their side with a mournful depressive atmospheric BM piece "Painajaisten kehdossa" (Google helped me translate that to "Nighmarish cradle") that coasts by at a leisurely pace: only the screaming vocal lets us know that all's not well in the band's own world. The guys keep going with "Yössä Vapahdettu / Night Ransomed", another unhappy and slow song, and just as spare, minimal and busy in a low-key grinding way as the previous track. The instruments are usually restricted to layers of spitting acid-guitar showers, pained synthesiser drone wash and listless percussion, with all the emotion concentrated in the singing. Even when the singing retreats and an opportunity appears for a lead guitar solo, the six-string melody is very downbeat and sullen. "Yöstä Ikuisuuteen / At Midnight, Eternity" should suggest some relief, even if obtained only through suicide, but - surprise! - this track is just as glum and repetitive as the others.

Kalmankantaja's side is dominated by vocals so those who understand Finnish will get the most value while the rest of us will just treat the anguished piping as just another element in the gloomy music. The songs are not bad but they sound so much the same and the band's sound and style are not very distinctive. To be honest, Kalmankantaja have that generic Finnish BM style that includes a sharp production and ongoing grinding tremolo guitars.

Worthless Lament also doles out depressive BM but this is depressive as in causing despair and depression at the muddy and pedestrian style that this duo has. The voices are murky in a cartoony way and no matter how hard the drummer whacks those skins and cymbals, the songs are drained of life and energy. These guys try hard but this set of three songs is so dull and lifeless. As one song passes into the next, the singing becomes more and more pathetic and the musicians seem to think so too, because they keep layering it with murk and echo until it turns into something thick and gloopy. The only really decent song is the last "Predicting the Loss" which is actually a straightforward BM song that shows off the drummer's ability well and is mostly instrumental. The second track has a short passage in which lead guitar turns psychedelic-hysterical which is very good - but do you really need to trudge through so much drudge to get to this point?

There are so many other releases that Kalmankantaja have made in the last few years that listeners needn't bother with this split unless they're mad keen to complete their collections. The Finnish band's side tends towards the generic and the monotonous and the Russian side is ... really depressive.