Tyhjyys

Kalmankantaja have notched up an impressive discography in the short time they've been together though I sometimes wonder whether they'd be better off recording fewer albums and splits each year and spending more time experimenting with and deviating from their style on the recordings they do make. "Tyhjyys", the trio's second full-length album for 2016, is a solid depressive BM work from start to finish but promises no new surprises for their fans. The musicians are progressing steadily from their original depressive BM approach to a more melodic and atmospheric style that straddles the underground and the alternative mainstream. The music is reminiscent of Burzum around his "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" / "Filosofem" period but with a more powerful and spacey sound and less pop-oriented tunes.

All five songs can be very long and the shortest is at least 8 minutes in length. "Iankaikkinen" leads off and sets the template for the rest of the album to follow: layered riffs with just enough distortion to project a hard, grinding texture but not so much that you can't make them out, a pained synth tone-poem wash-over that sets the mood and gruff Finnish-language vocals that usually dominate the song. The drumming provides enough bang to anchor the music and occasionally stands out in parts but usually sticks to its time-keeping role. The riffs can be dramatic and sweeping, and lend an epic aspect to some tracks (as on the follow-up song "Mustat vedet") though they're not exactly whistle-worthy catchy pop tunes. There's a fair amount of repetition on most tracks which accounts for their length and probably if they'd been cut back by a minute or two each, not much would be lost in the way of the song's integrity as instrumental passages within songs tend to go over and over the same riff and there are few lead guitar solo breaks.

While all the BM-oriented songs are consistent and powerful on their own, together they're not that distinct from one another and they could interchange riffs and melodies without affecting the general downbeat mood and style much. The emotional level tends to be the same from one song to the next and the singing especially is more low-key than the songs perhaps deserve. The odd scream or demonic multi-voiced gabble-fest wouldn't have hurt. Where songs build up to a climax, the cold mists of synthesiser tone wash tend to dampen down the intensity when maybe the guitars should just let rip once in a while with a volcanic boil-over. An opportunity to go into hypnotic psychedelic territory on "Yönpalvoja" offers itself but the band doesn't take it up. Instead there's too much repetition on this track and while it does have a lot of power, the song's potential to be a stirring climax to everything that's come before is wasted. Final track "Kaamos" is an all-ambient instrumental that does very little for its length.

Long-time Kalmankantaja fans will probably be happy that once again the band has been consistent and is continuing to produce technically good work but first-time listeners are probably better off hearing the trio's shorter EP works or some of the split recordings the Finns have done with other bands.

This is ninth album from Finnish depressive black metal project Kalmankantaja. Ninth! Add another ten EPs or splits, which they’ve released in the last five years and that gives just a crazy dose of material. Personally I only know Kalmankantaja from their split CDs with Hermóðr and Oþalan, so with “Tyhjyys” this is basically the first time I listened to their music from a full album. And to be honest, I was quite afraid of this album. You know, how can someone keep the quality with such quantity? And more so, usually I get quickly bored with most of the so called depressive doomy black metal bands (Hermóðr being one of the few exceptions).

How is “Tyhjyys” then? Well, I may not be fully impressed with it, but I cannot deny that it’s a solid and enjoyable release. I’ve surprised myself, because usually I can listen to such music for an hour, two maybe, but quickly I feel an urge to play something faster and more ferocious. But in this case I’ve spent a whole day with “Tyhjyys”. I was playing it repeatedly for many hours and I kind of let myself drown in these sounds. Yeah, there’s definitely something about the atmosphere of “Tyhjyys” that makes me want to come back to it. But that’s not only about the atmosphere, as the performance, as well as the gift for mesmerizing, almost hypnotizing melodies is something that makes Kalmankantaja more worthy than 90% of similar bands.

Yeah. And this is probably why I would never describe this album as boring and too monotonous. I can understand people who only wanna have Marduk type of speed, that they will feel bored and tired with such a doomy type of atmospheric black metal. Who cares for them, right? It was close though, because the songs are all about nine minutes long and the tempo through them all is always the same, slow pace, with not so much diversity. But somehow I managed to pick up some great harmonies, arrangements or whatever else here. I like how the guitars work with subtle keyboard backgrounds, I really like the vocals of Tyrant, who is a fantastic vocalist, I think. And the depressive, melancholic and sorrowful, dark aura can remind you of old Katatonia or Summoning; maybe even Burzum. So, monotonous or not, it’s just damn well played atmospheric doomy black metal.

Wolfspell Records should be widely known by now for their great catalogue and passion for atmospheric black metal. It seems like Kalmankantaja may be their most important act alongside Hermóðr. And I’m pretty sure they will release more such material from Grim666. I don’t know how the progression of Kalmankantaja will look like, and if the previous as well as the future albums will be able to offer something more than “Tyhjyys”. But let’s not care about stuff like stagnation and creativity now. Let’s just enjoy this solid album.

Standout track: “Mustat vedet”
Final rate: 75/100

Though they only formed five years ago, Kalmankantaja has become one of the black metal scene's more prolific acts. The band has not only released a demo, five EP's, two compilations, and seven splits, but have recently dropped their ninth full length album, Tyhjyys. Released through Wolfspell Records, those familiar with the label's output should be quite familiar with the style at play; highly mesmerizing atmospheric black metal that sounds like it was written and recorded somewhere in the woods.

Apparently the project initially played some type of depressive black metal, and it eventually morphed into the sweeping atmospheric black metal band it is now. Traces of that depressive past can surely be heard in certain places, be it a tortured trem riffing pattern or the pained growls, and, hell, even the album title translates to “emptiness,” but Tyhjyys manages to sound rather uplifting in spite of that. Most of the band's back catalog has been performed by Grim666 (Girming, Oath, Lathspell, etc.), with vocals by Barshasketh vocalist Nagh, but for this latest offering Grim666 enlisted former Azaghal/current Oath drummer V.Khaoz and Malum vocalist Tyrant. With this revamped lineup, Kalmankantaja offer a strong album of trance inducing, sweeping atmospheric black metal.

The base of the music employs trem riffs, that are rather buried, layered in distortion, and hidden beneath a wall of lush keyboards that blend with a more prominent lead guitar melody. Thought provoking moments are woven throughout, whether it be brief flourishes of acoustic guitars or throaty, tortured screams breaking the trance. It's reminiscent of the style that Lustre has been employing, yet without as much emphasis on keyboards. Actually, to think a little harder on it, Kalmankantaja's sound blends that kind of atmospheric style with the mesmerizing quality of early Burzum; something surprisingly similar to the sound labelmates Hermóðr have been bringing.

To those not familiar with the back catalog of Kalmankantaja, Tyhjyys is a fine place to start. It's an atmospheric black metal album that offers windy trem riffing mixed with lush keys and just a dash of depressive chill. As summer fades into autumn, Tyhjyys would be a satisfying companion for the change of seasons and falling temperatures. Another fine release through Wolfspell Records, which has pretty much turned into the best place to find this particular brand of atmospheric black metal.