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Kiuas > The Spirit of Ukko > Reviews > Element_man
Kiuas - The Spirit of Ukko

They're going places. - 97%

Element_man, May 11th, 2006

Kiuas play a very oringal, unique style of metal that mixes everything from folk to black metal, and epic, symphonic metal with bombastic , crushing power metal. Let me tell you guys: This is quite possibly the best metal album of 2005, and perhaps the best metal debut of all time. From the moment you shove the CD into your playing device and hear the fast, crunchy riffs of the explosive title, "Spirit of Ukko" track all the way until you reach the the dark, ponderous yet epic "And the Northe Star Cried", any fan of heavy metal will be totally hooked by guitarist Mikko Salovaara's techincal soloing and quirky riffs, singer Ilja Jalkanen's energetic and aggressive vocal attacks, not to mention the stunning drumming, and totally awsome, yet non-cheesy keyboarding, not to mention the solid basslines. I've decided to briefly run through each song.

1: "The Spirit of Ukko" The album immediately launches you into the title track of the album, which consists of a minute and thirty seconds of fast and heavy riffs backed by symphonic keyboard elements. If you're not pumped after 30 seconds, then keep listening, it'll happen soon. The energy of the song only increases once the vocalist enters the scene, and his powerful singing totally fits the music. An amazing, though rather short guitar solo follows, which leads into a serene moment in the song, which is destroyed by heavy riffing, and a sweet guitar lick/mini-solo. Oh, fun fact: for those who don't know, 'Ukko' was the top Finnish god back in the day.

2: "On Winds of Death we Ride" This is a cool song that is slower, but still starts with a pounding riff that escalated into a lightning-fast riff with the help of the vocalist, who shows off his talent by singing with a a harsher voice tone, and actually layering death metal vocals underneath his noral singing. There are plenty of heavy, death, black, and folk metal moments in this song, and it's a amazing blend.

3: "No More Sleep for me" This is a mid-paced song that begins with a snare drum intro, then a very cool headbanging riff. The verse is a change from the first two songs, in that the guitars are left out until later. This song isn't fast, but the band's enthusiasm never dwindles at any point in the song.

4: "Warrior Soul" This is the best song on the album. Fuck, this song kicks ass. If everyone here could only listen to one song from this band, it'd be this song. It's so cool. It begins with a huge drum intro laden with double-bass kicks, then some deep guitar notes, and low death growls. Then, a dual keyboard/guitar lick opens into the explosive verse. Jalkanen puts up his best vocal performance here, and the chorus of this song is amazing and memoriable. It's a great sing-along chorus. "WARRIOR SOUL! BLAZES THROUGH THE LAND OF FROST AND SNOW! HIS PAGAN HEART AND FLESH BUILT TO ENDURE THE COLD!" Man, if that doesn't get the blood flowing, nothing will.

5: "Until we Reach the Shore" Another slower song that beings with a nice keyboard melody that is joined by a melodic guitar solo. This song is actually the weakest one on the album, though the begining is very nice, as well as the chorus. That's pretty much all I've got say about this one...

6: "Across the Snows" Okay, time for another sweet song. This begins with wind in the background, and footsteps in the snow. Some very catchy acoustic guitaring in a folk style catches the listeners interest, and the addition of a flute melody is very cool. The nice setting is shattered when Mikko's nutjob guitar riffs start blasting at a healthy head-banging pace. Some cool hooks with crazy harmonics are thrown around by Mikko, and the outcome is a very sweet folk metal song. I'd like to take a moment to point out that this is one of the songs featured on their demos, and the demo version is much better, although the mix is poor.

7: "Thorns of a Black Rose" SLowing it down again, this is probably the clostest thing that this album gets to a ballad. It's several steps above "Until we Reach the Shore", the other balladish song on the album. The chorus to the song is acoustic with some very powerfl singing, backed by some wicked licks and melodies in the guitar. Totally cool, and a very different style from the rest of the album. The chorus is soaring and epic, and the song changes in style. Very good song.

8: "And the North Star Cried" This is pretty much that 'epic' of the album, clocking at 7 minutes. In this one, the band is backed by a string quartet, so the song is very epic sounding, with the strings and keyboards playing these chilling melodies with the guitars chugging away with some solid, heavy rythms. The vocalist doesn't even enter the song until 2 minutes into it. The song features more qicked guitaring, and a sweet-ass keyboard solo. Plus, the whole symphonic element is very awsome.

With that all said and done, I'm going to recommend this to anyone interested in music ranging from rock to heavy metal of all types. This band is so cool that I seriously doubt that many non-power metal fans will dislike this. The amazing level of variety contained in the songs is mind-blowing, and the sheer memorability (Is that even a word?) of the songs will knock you off your feet. I can't get through a day without singing/humming/thinking the choruses to the songs "Warrior Soul", "Spirit of Ukko", or "Across the Snows". The playing ability of each band member is stunning. Jalkanen belts out the vocals lines with his versatile voice (Powerful with a rough edge) and performs death metal growls occasionally. He makes up for his slightly limited vocal ranged with his obvious enthusiasm for the material. Man, Salovaara is an undiscovered guitar god. I think he's way better than Alexi of Children of Bodom. His riffs are crunchy, fast, heavy, and laden with wierd hooks such as crazy harmonics and shit like that. His riffs rules, and I believe he's one of the main songwriters Also, he does both the lead guitar and rhythm guitars on the album. Drummer Nareneva is great. His double-bass kicks are flawless, and he hold tons of variety behind his kit. Tanskanen is the man behind the keyboard, and he's blood brilliant. Half the time, good power metal is ruined by mediocre/cheesy keyboarding, and while the keys are up front much of the time in the songs, it never gets bad. Synth counter-melodies, string sounds, and funky winter-sounds are flung ever which way with amazing precision. And Bassist Tuominen hold his own of the feild of glory with his solid bass-lines that admittedly follow the guitar much of the time, though he get his shots in here and there.
Kiuas's next album, "Reformation", is set for May 24th, 2006. "The Spirit of Ukko" was release May 4th of last year. That's 385 days betwen albums Holy crap! I'm pre-ordering this shit! For those that missed this album back when it came out in 2005, don't worry. Most people missed it. Listen to it. Download it, buy it, get the samples, I don't care how. It'll be worth your time if you're up for some wicked heavy metal.