Day: May 9, 2014

After having reviewed Kuolemanlaakso twice, here we are dealing with a similar moniker as Kaunis Kuolematon; it goes without saying that here too we are immersed hands and feet in the magnificent land of a thousand lakes, dealing with another band that could be one of the most exciting discoveries of the year. The use of the conditional is not referred to doubts about the musical content of Kylmä Kaunis Maailma but just to the difficulty that you will have had (at least that you do not have Finnish ancestry) in pronouncing correctly the title; the full use of the mother tongue may, in fact, prove to be an obstacle for those groups of listeners less equipped with patience and open-mindedness. Overcome this obstacle, however, it is easy to fall madly in love with Kaunis Kuolematon, able to compose a disc of melodic death doom of rare versatility. The noble and cumbersome specter of Swallow The Sun inevitably hovers on the disc, and it is not excluded that the linguistic artifice is also a way to make less automatic certain approaches, but it must be said that, beyond more or less obvious similarities, ours maintain as a common trait with their masters above all the amazing ability to compose melodies difficult to set aside, inserting them in a sound context robust but always with the right balance. Olli Saakeli Suvanto’s vocal performance is excellent, without any smears in the growl and screming parts (therefore along the lines of the best Kotamäki), as well as Mikko Heikkilä’s one, who in addition to the six strings also takes care of the evocative clean vocals, used profusely in the more relaxed songs and in those with epic traits. The overall level is well above average, but it doesn’t prevent some tracks from standing out from the others, in particular the splendid En Ole Mitään, with its irresistible emotional rate and its tear-jerking video, or the following Sieluni Sirpaleet, without forgetting the superlative Aamu. Even if Kaunis Kuolematon are preferred in the most emotional moments, even when they push on the accelerator they are involving, moving definitely on the melodic death side, but in every single moment of the album the Finnish band shows a strong personality that can make them overcome with ease the limits imposed by the genre and the inevitable comparisons with the heaviest names in the industry. As I said at the beginning, the choice to sing in their mother tongue, I’m afraid, could lead to the closing of several doors against Kaunis Kuolematon, at least outside the patriotic borders, while, fortunately for them, on the domestic front they have to deal with a population numerically small but incredibly receptive to musical genres that elsewhere (did someone say Italy?) are not at all taken into consideration at the media level (I would like to remind you that in 2006 Finland triumphed at the Eurofestival by sending in its representation none other than Lordi).
But, beyond all these considerations, Kylmä Kaunis Maailma remains in my opinion one of the best albums released in this first third of 2014 and this should be enough to push you to make a pleasant full immersion of Finnish.

2014 – Violent Journey Records