finland

Devious Up at Stylus I have reviews of new albums by The Stooges and Titan. At Metal Injection, I’ve reviewed Dutch death metallers Devious, Finnish melodeath dealers Omnium Gatherum, hair farmers Dokken (who seem to be getting “they weren’t that bad” reevaluation these days), and straightedge hardcore punkers Liferuiner. Devious – Room 302Omnium Gatherum – […]

The Oppressed Will RiseThe Animal Within Listenable2007 As I get older and scruffier, the music I like also gets older and scruffier. Part of me, though, will always appreciate Century Media-style metal: strong, precise, overproduced to the hilt. It has a fist-pumping appeal lacking in, say, black metal or the NeurIsis sound. A recent black […]

The Bells Toll My Name Self-Released2007 My first impression of the cover of Tapetum Lucidum was “Gravediggaz” (with “Paul Wall” and “Goldie” close behind). Turns out I wasn’t far off – Gloomy Grim plays self-styled “horror movie metal,” with haunted house synths over melodic black metal. The result is rather campy, like if Rob Zombie […]

Youth HostelForbidden Thoughts Diablo1990 I was astonished to discover that Gloomy Grim vocalist Agathon was in fact Ykä, the drummer for old-school Finnish thrash act Airdash. Now, I’m no expert on Airdash; I stumbled across this CD in a used record store. When you see that telltale font and the bright colors only ’80s albums […]

Dual – Void – TridentIn the Locus of Bone Avantgarde2006 Dolorian’s Voidwards was one of my top 10 metal albums last year. Every time I hear the record, it bowls me over with its depth, sophistication, and listenability. Frankly, I don’t understand why it wasn’t in more top 10’s. Lack of distribution must be part […]

Over the course of its three albums, Insomnium‘s sound hasn’t changed so much as matured. This Finnish band sounds like Paradise Lost doing Swedish melodic death metal, combining the majesty of the former with the pace of the latter. 2004’s Since the Day It All Came Down was pretty much perfect; Above the Weeping World […]