Kuolleen maan omaksi

Finnish black metallers Väki unleashed their debut album back in 2020. Here is my review from the time.

Eerie samples start us off before huge guitar riffs and pummelled drums spring to life. The ferocious build of the music is immensely gripping as the vicious howling vocals join the convulsive riffs and drums. Melancholic yet violent and aggressive, the dissonant progressions blister through the rhythmic grooves to create a spectral and otherworldly conjuration of macabre black metal excellence. Typically Finnish black metal tends to be more raw and stripped back but Väki do something rather different with a monstrously huge sounding production and endless layers of resplendent and proficient musicianship to create a textured soundscape.

With some discordant sections showing up rather often, more akin to Icelandic black metal, however presented in a far more traditional structure, this offers the best of both worlds with classic black metal ferocity and more modern experimentation to elevate the music into new grounds. Alongside our rhythmic battery we also see some melodic and soulful guitar solos that add a really gorgeous emotive touch to the barbaric yet insanely impressive assault. The diverse blasting drums onslaught gives endlessly enticing cymbal fills and artillery to back up a slew of magnificently tight, grooving and creepy riffs which work excellently with the savage vocal attack.

Hammering forth each piece develops from the last in a transcendent manner. Throughout the 53 minute running time we see a huge amount of variation that keeps things fresh and volatile, spewing forth a crushing blend of atmospherics and visceral disdain. Monolithic riffs and drums meet dissonant leads and tortured vocals in a superb and unique manner. There is certainly never a dull moment on this record which remains as unpredictable later on as it is at the start. Truly wonderful musicianship shows black metal can remain profoundly powerful even with a fuller production and more expansive songwriting, adding their own flavour to the already magnificent Finnish scene.

Väki have not only unleashed their debut album but this could be a game-changer as it breaks away from the Finnish black metal sound that we all know and love. They have opted to add something different to their countries and the worlds black metal underground that is utterly ferocious yet packed with atonal spite and also gorgeous melodies, concocting a majestic and spectral recording of infinitely enjoyable proportions.

Written for www.nattskog.wordpress.com