Nothing Right Nothing Left

Though far from a fringe player in the metal world over the past several decades, Finland has only played a secondary part in the near 2-decade long revival of the traditional art form often dubbed the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal, at least when compared with juggernauts of said movement such as their western neighbors Sweden and the U.K., or even nations in Southern Europe that were less of a factor during the style's early 80s heyday. But for however small the ranks of Finnish outfits riding the coattails of Manilla Road and Brocas Helm, a few outfits such as Dragon Throne and Ancient Flame have displayed that the 2020s might see this eventuality remedied, though interestingly enough a dark horse outfit hailing from Joensuu in Stranded Ways seems to have beaten them to the stage by about a year. Sporting a lineup of generally unknown quantities and fielding an album that visually comes across as yet another entry into the melodic power metal lexicon for which the nation is well known, this outfit might seem unlikely trailblazers for the traditional metal style in Finland, but the actual contents of Nothing Right, Nothing Left tell a different story.

In keeping with the standard practices of the NWOTHM, the feel of these songs trends towards the epic, early 80s side of the coin and features a production that is of a more rustic and working class quality, not all that dissimilar from a typical Slough Feg entry. Yet within this otherwise typical blend of musical nods to Crystal Logic and King Of The Dead is a handful of interesting curveballs that, while not wholly alien to the style, are a bit less common. Perhaps the most auspicious element at play that throws things for a bit of a loop is the bass work of Paavo Jantunen, which includes some rather eerily beautiful fretless noodling during the softer moments and a generally high presence in the mix throughout that gives things a slightly sludgy and trudging quality. Then again, Alaska Keranen's riffs land some mighty blows, and the signature acoustic work that he brings to the more epic chapters of this sonic codex help to make for a more dynamic experience, while the flashy lead moments of Thomas Taralainen come off a bit more technical than usual, resting somewhere between a crazed nod to Brian Tatler and a slightly restrained homage to Eddie Van Halen.

The individual prowess of all players involved notwithstanding, one would be remiss to gloss over the generally methodical and otherwise fairly adventurous songwriting that allows for all of these standout performances to take place. Whether it be more up tempo bangers like "Road Of Mysteries" and "Hunters Released" that cook something fierce and reveal a band that's willing to regularly explore that faster side of the old style, or the drawn out journeys to distant realms set to music that are the Dio-era Sabbath inspired "After All" and the even more somber and fatalistic grand finale "Soon Dead, Already Forgotten", this is a band that knows all of the tools of the trade and knows how to balance out tech-happy guitar solo segments and driving speed metal with a sense of build up and release. Interestingly enough, the most static element in the fold is the competent albeit generally safe mid-ranged vocal performance that Juhis Holopainen. But for what he may lack in distinctiveness and borderline eccentricity when compared to the likes of Mark Shelton and Tim Baker, he gets the job done and occasionally outdoes himself within the confines of a bellowing baritone with a few fleeting banshee wails like the one that kicks off "Hunters Released".

Taken as a whole, this is a solid, if somewhat uneven collection of songs from a band that is in fairly small company within their motherland. Don't let the purple sky and picturesque visual of the tide crashing against a stone pier fool you, this is sonically about as in line with the visual of muscle clad barbarians out of a Robert E. Howard story as anything that's been burning up the metal underground of late. Anyone with even the most basic familiarity with well-known purveyors of this style such as Eternal Champion and Dawnbringer will only fine a few peripheral elements at play here that really break the mold that has been established since the mid-2000s, let alone what the elders of the bygone days were bringing to the table. Nevertheless, it's a rock solid display from a largely unknown fold that deserves wider consideration than a handful of online passerby types. They can't all be the true successor to Manilla Road, and given the lack of variety that would result from such an eventuality, no one should want that for a musical movement that still has plenty to say on where the path of metal may lead.