Tuhon maa

Some releases are of a kind that you pick again and again for a review, but no matter how hard you may try, you always fail to get a piece done. Another spin, another attempt and even in times of real motivation to write on music, the actual text never really went beyond some vague lines. Also this time the process of getting it done is a real struggle.

Wainas are a band from Finland and their attempt to compose music is … well … limited. Actually, when you take a spin of the entire album and try to recall certain passages or elements, then you might find this difficult. Not so much because the band did a bad job on Tuhon Maa, but rather because everything sounds basically the same. For some inexplicable reason the whole impression merges together into some vague inexplicable doom/death mess, whose overall style lacks any meaningful identity.

There are differences, though. The music has some calmer moment, some aggressive ones … but the overall direction generally remains the same and those ‘adventures’ into other realms are rather the exception than the rule; also solo elements are unable to leave a lasting impression. Is the music bad, then? Actually, this is difficult to describe. Those tracks have a good amount of hypnotic drive and it is nice to have it as some sort of background ambience.

It is hard to present a reference for this band. The music is some sort of dark doom death metal with a strong emphasis on midtempo. In terms of the vocals growls play a crucial role and ‘Kanttori Wainaa’ never moves away from this; not in terms of the style and way of expression. Tuhon Maa is listenable, is able to create a strange fascination … but really really really nothing more.