SHOW Review - Bristol SOunds 2024, Day 1 - Skindred
reviewed for Music Scene Media:
Full Transcript:
L.O.V.E. is what the people of Bristol wanted as Skindred closed out day 1 of Bristol Sounds
The days are long and the weather is (possibly too) warm, that can only mean one thing…..FESTIVAL SEASON BABY!!!
This weekend saw the opening day of 2024’s edition of Bristol Sounds, a series of seven open-air mixed genre live music events taking place at the much loved Canon’s Marsh Amphitheatre on Bristol’s Harbourside. Day one was curated especially for those with a particular taste for the heavier side of things, with Newport boys and “Ragga-Metal” pioneers Skindred headlining the event. But more on them later.
First of all opening up the Main Stage were local Alt-Metal outfit Mallavora, who seemed genuinely buzzing to be playing to, admittedly at this point quite a small, hometown crowd. But they used their time onstage to not only treat us all to a well-polished, sub-genre bending set, but they also spent time highlighting awareness of access to live music for both disabled artists and fans alike. Having recently won Kerrang Radios 'The Deal' competition that netted them a slot on the Avalanche Stage at this year's Download Festival and with their first single “Skin” produced by Skindred very own Mikey Demus (insert Charlie from Its Always Sunny conspiracy theory meme…. it's all connected), Mallavora are clearly an act that should be on our collective radars.
Out of southeast London, Kid Bookie was next, bringing his particular variety of Hip-Hop/Trap Metal/Rap Rock/Nu-Metal fusion to the Main Stage. Before things started he had to apologise to the parents in the crowd, letting them know that their kids would learn a few swear words today, what followed was a heavy yet grooving set (imagine Limp Bizkit meets Mushroom Head with a little pinch of UK Grime sprinkled on top), that had the crowd swaying away in no time. Shoutouts were given to Corey Taylor (the crowd were encouraged to shout loud enough that Corey, who was playing at the Isle of Wight Festival that weekend could hear us) came before “Stuck In My Ways” in which he features. With anecdotes about the extracurricular activities that he got up to in the city whilst he was at university, and a helpful fan in the front row pointing out that he may have been flying low, the ever-growing crowd were now officially well and truly warmed up.
Brighton-based anime-influenced Alt-Metallers Lake Malice then took to the Main Stage. The energy on display from guitarist Blake Cornwall, who was a whirlwind of jumps and spin kicks all over the stage, showed that he could not be contained by the confines of the stage alone, as he vaulted the barrier and made his way into the centre of the circle pitting crowd. Although Blake’s skill with six strings is in no doubt, it is Alice Guala’s vocal performance that is truly outstanding, her transition between clean vocals into some truly face-melting harsh vocals had the crowd completely captivated. But the way in which all of this amalgamates with the electronic elements of their soundscape and some unbelievably fierce drums, on this occasion provided by Emily Ainger, Lake Malice were definitely one of my highlights of the day and absolutely worth your time for a cheeky little listen.
On the back of their recent UK #5 album Halo Effect, the Devon-based Kris Barras Band were greeted by a crowd, now noticeably swelling in number. Fronted by former MMA fighter Kris Barras, commanding the stage with his sizable, unsleeved tattooed arms; but if you thought he was skilled at fighting people, just wait till you see him shred on guitar. During this 45-minute set, which treated those assembled to a romp of Blues adjacent Shoegaze-y Rock, riffs were plentiful, some of which were downright outrageous, with at one point Frazer Kerslake providing a very Tim Henson-esq solo on his bass.
Into the early evening now and the sun is harsh and beaming down directly onto the Main Stage when A appears, with front man Jason Perry, for some reason, sporting a full ‘Just Eat’ delivery driver uniform, insulated bag and everything.
Having been in the business since the mid 90’s they know that their fan base are now slipping into the bracket of a particular vintage, Perry orchestrated a 'walking pit' in the crowd, instructing fans to go slower than a jog but a little quicker than Captain Tom in his last days, which went down well with the gathered masses.
The banterous back and forth continued as he slipped into full Corey Taylor mode, shouting for all of us 'maggots' to get down on the floor, before on the count of 3 …….just staying there and relaxing for a little while. There was also a brief interlude of football chat to fill some time, questioning Gareth Southgate's selection choices and the England team's overall performance at the current UEFA European football tournament, all whilst the audio techs frantically tried to fix an issue with Giles Perry’s keyboard/sampler set up.
With Jason’s voice now starting to strain, A closed out with fan favourite “Nothing”, arms were in the air, heads were banging and all were thoroughly entertained. But how Jason managed to last the full 1 hour set in the heat whilst wearing his takeaway kagool may have been the most impressive performance of the whole day.
Keeping things rolling for fans of late 90’s/early 00’s Rock acts, next up were Glastonbury’s finest Reef, with Mr Gary Stringer himself, swaggering his way onto and around the stage with a coolness that I can only hope to one day achieve.
The band's collective experience shone through with a super tight and thoroughly enjoyable set. Possibly their most recognisable hit “Raise Your Hands” featured towards the middle of their time on stage, but with a little twist in tempo which, although familiar, was a pleasantly fresh version.
By the end the crowd, who were now packed, in high spirits and in fine voice, were treated to a completely unrelated flypast of a couple of hot-air balloons advertising Somersets own Thatchers Cider, things could not be more Bristol.
Then the main event Skindred, the boys from just down the road in Newport South Wales (area code 01633 in case you were wondering, frontman Benji Webbe made damn sure everyone on the night had that memorised), these pioneers fusing Reggae with Heavy Metal have been at this game with this current line up for over 20 years now.
Tension was built in the crowd, the lights flared and the stage was bathed in red, before a remix of the Imperial March from Star Wars played as the band emerged one by one, finishing off with Benji (arguably the most charismatic frontman in metal at the moment) decked out in a black leather trench coat with the massive signature Union Black flag aloft, it was straight into the set proper with a heavy opening of “Set Fazers” followed by “Pressure” and “Rat Race”.
But it was not all heavy, the set included Reggae track “L.O.V.E. (Smile Please)”, an Acoustic rendition of “Life That’s Free” and a Dubstep remix of fan favourite “Nobody” before the initial closer “Gimme That Boom”.
There were anecdotes about Benji’s upbringing in Newport and his brother Clifford, his discovery of The Specials and how seeing Terry Hall and Neville Staple bringing white people and black people together, making music for people who 'want love and want life' and that ultimately inspired him to do the same. The messages of unity continued as Webbe introduced the Bristol masses to his band mates, “some are Welsh people, some are English people, but the best part is were all people” and speaking of friends and the pandemic and the struggles that we had all/are still going through, ultimately spreading a message of love.
But the fans knew that we weren’t done yet, before the band were even back on stage, shirts were already off and raised in the air for what they knew was to come. Back for the encore and sporting an outrageous fur number now, firstly was “Our Religion” before Gary Stringer of Reef and Kris Barras were brought back out onstage for the big finish of “Warning” and (wait for it bitches) the t-shirt twirling ‘Newport Helicopter’.
All in all Skindred presented us with an undoubtedly fun hour and a half of hits (both old and new), jokes, pantomime calls and responses and a plethora of hats, sunglasses and some mighty fierce jackets as Benji had the Bristol crowd in the palm of his hand. To paraphrase a Mr Gary Barlow, today was my idea of a very nice day out.
..The screen goes into soft focus and some ethereal flashback music starts playing..
Nestled between the Gyros Stand and the Noodle Bar of the street food/merch part of the festival site was the diminutive Second Stage, but as I've often been told “it's not the size that matters, it's how you use it” and the acts on showcase here proved in every part that they deserved to be on the bill around the corner.
For a very quickfire roundup of the goings on here:
First up, Tova brought a mixture of Metal and Emo, that pulled on elements of Jungle, Garage and Dubstep, to the early afternoon Bristol sunshine.
Then, four-piece and local lads Mother Vulture definitely won the award for the biggest performance on the smallest stage. The energy that those boys gave and that in return the assembled crowd gave back to them was unreal. The vocal performance from Georgie Valentine is something that truly has to be witnessed in person; with spins, kicks and hair flips a plenty from Chris Simpson and Brodie Maguire on Bass and guitar respectively (I’m sure Matt West would have also got involved if he was not stuck behind the drums).
Another set of local lads, Bristol-based RXPTRS drew probably the largest crowd of the day for the Second Stage with their particular blend of Rock, Metal, Punk and Hardcore. A set that was complete with crowd surfing around and on top of the assembled picnic benches.
Finally, the poser from the northwest, Burnley-based Cody Frost came out two-stepping to close proceedings on the Second Stage.
Sadly logistics meant that I was only able to catch a snippet of a song or two from each of these Second Stage acts; I genuinely am gutted that I was not able to experience the full-length mayhem that was on show in that little corner of the festival, but that's just all of the excuse that I need to track them down again.
The Second Stage Stage was bookended by Alt Music DJ sets supplied by Choker, providing the ambience for your cheesy chips or other street food of choice.
With local bands Mallavora holding their own on the Main Stage and Mother Vulture and RXPTRS causing absolute havoc on the Second Stage, it is evident that the future of the Alternative Music Scene in Bristol is very bright indeed.
There are six more jam-packed days of rock, reggae pop and DJ acts taking place as part of the Bristol Sounds event through to June 30th.
Album Review - Bring Me The Horizon - Post Human: NEx GeN
reviewed for Music Scene Media:
Full Transcript:
POST HUMAN LORE DEEPENS WITH THE MUCH ANTICIPATED RELEASE OF NEX GEN
Much like the release of Bring Me The Horizon’s latest album, this review comes to you slightly delayed; but, unfortunately, I suspect this will not quite break the internet in the same way that the surprise drop of POST HUMAN: NeX GEn had two weeks ago.
With all of the turmoil around the release of this record, inevitably questions have arisen over what the quality of Bring Me The Horizons seventh studio album would be. Originally promised for a late 2020 release, global events meant that it was pushed back to September 2023. A smattering of singles followed (“Die4U'' September 2021, “Strangers'' July 2022”, “LosT” May 2023, “AmEN!” June 2023 and “DArkSide'' October 2023); before the news broke of the sudden, yet seemingly amicable, departure of producer/keyboardist and arguably (from the release of 2013s Sempiternal onwards) the driving force behind the evolution of the bands sound from deathcore kids in their early days to the global metalcore/pop metal powerhouse that they are today. Things were looking decidedly ropey. Sixth single from the still unreleased album, “Kool Aid'', then dropped right as the band set out the UK leg of the NX_GN WRLD TOUR at which point the album was just listed as “coming soon”. The latest instalment in the band's futuristic POST HUMAN series is now finally with us. Courtesy of the disgruntled ‘AI’ character E.V.E. “leaking” the album as “the boys were taking the absolute piss” getting around to a firm release announcement; NEx GEn was dropped onto streaming platforms with just 12 hours notice.
Lyrically, this record feels like it may have been the most cathartic for frontman Oli Sykes, with themes of addiction, obvious references to rehab and therapy, and an exploration of self doubt all present in the 55 minute album.
Things kick off properly with the uplifting, pop-punk ‘YOUtopia', reminiscent of styles akin to Smashing Pumpkins, this is the closest thing to a love song on the album and has possibly the catchiest riff of the whole record. “There's a place I wanna take you. But I’m not quite there myself yet”. Finishing off with “It's like I walked into a dream. And stepped out of the coma”. This transitions perfectly into one of the biggest bangers on the record, already a fan favourite arena anthem ‘Kool-Aid’ where the foibles of the idealised paradise of track 1 are questioned. Set against the backdrop of a cult, how is the previously mentioned ‘YOUtopia’ reached and at what cost. “Asphyxiating with a smile on your face. While they pull your teeth out one by one, Is this what you wanted? (No). Do you want some more? (Yes).”
The first post album release single ‘Top 10 staTues tHat CriEd bloOd’ (the recently released pop culture reference riddled music video is worth a watch), then follows and leans into the futuristic with its electronic/glitchy sounds and technical prowess. “No ones gonna come and rescue me. I’m drowning in my sleep”
Sadly not featuring Billie Eilish, as was widely believed, ‘liMOusIne’ instead features Norwegian electronic pop-folk singer/songwriter/producer AURORA, on a grungy Deftones-esq chug of a track. “I hope that you wrote all your songs for me” perhaps a tongue in cheek jab at the some of the more gate-keepy sections in the metal fan base who are often quick to criticise the evolving sounds within the scene shooting down anything “pop-like” or flirts with being “too mainstream”
‘A bulleT w/my namE On’ featuring Underoath is metalcore through and through; with interlude track ‘[ost] (spi)ritual’ very much giving early Sleep Token meats lo-fi electro-house.
UK fans who managed to attend the arena tour back in January (this reviewer included), will be able to hear their “Hello Oli you fucking knobhead” contributions on a stripped back ‘n/A’ (rapidly updates CV to now include recording artist…mum we’ve finally made it). Opening with “My names Oli and I’m an addict” again touches on Syke’s well documented past, set against a form of AA meeting and expressing that although that part of his life is seemingly behind him, it is not actually too far away, always there just over his shoulder. Narratively it seems as though the safe space becomes hostile as he again battles his demons, “Thinking I should drop dead, eat shit, go to hell. I could jump head first out the window. Dark thoughts keep on filling up in my mind.”
This aptly transitions into the self aware pop-punk banger, ‘LoSt’. With a music video set in a nightmarish rehab facility, is a deeper exploration of Syke’s troubles; “Why am I this way? Stupid medicine not doing anything. What the hell is fucking wrong with me?” “Maybe I don't belong on this planet”.
‘sTraNgeRs’ is a full lighters (or more aptly phone lights) in the air arena ballad, the guys have been playing a stripped back acoustic version of this on the recent tour that each night really felt like a “moment” for those in attendance, I for one am hoping for a proper release of the acoustic edition of this track.
This album flows wonderfully well, with the inclusion of the odd [ost] suffixed interlude to build the narrative and bridge between tracks, the transitions in particular between emo-core ‘R.i.p. (duskCOre Remix)’ and the face melting riff laden ‘AmEN!’ are just…chefs kiss. The prior ending with a eulogy from Sykes to *redacted* with the latter opening “I hope you have fun rotting in hell……Suck a dick, heretic, I hate you”.
Probably the most left field part of the record is an out and out jungle number, the transitional track ‘[ost] p.u.s.s.-e’.
The record comes to an end with ‘DIg It’. Continuing on the themes of self doubt and existentialism “I hate my fucking guts right now”, “Life is a grave, and I dig it”. Closing out with a minute's silence (well one minute and thirty-three seconds of dead air to be precise, yes we timed it) before the POST HUMAN lore building continues with us being briefly introduced to another ‘AI’ character, the malfunctioning M8.
Although fans will have heard a large proportion of the album via the singles released over the last two and a half years, there is definitely enough new content in here for fans to get excited about, we believe the album to be a great success continuing the bands musical evolution, seeing their now signature metalcore sound experimentally blending with other genres, merging with more electronic sounds alongside elements of pop-punk, grunge and nu-metal.
It remains to be seen what the full impact of Jordan Fish’ departure from the band will mean moving forward, but with recently sold out worldwide arena shows, the bands first Brit Award, massive festival appearances alongside one of the best headline sets that Download Festival has seen for nearly a decade, surely the global domination of Bring Me The Horizon will continue.
Unfortunately though for fans of physical media, the wait continues until you can actually get your grubby little hands on a copy of NeX GEn with the release of Vinyl, CD and Tape editions currently set for September 2024.
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Show Review - Vended - The Asylum, Birmingham
reviewed for Metal Talk:
My Full Gallery Here:
Full Transcript:
VENDED, THE GLOOM IN THE CORNER AND PROFILER CAUSE MAYHEM AT THE ASYLUM IN BIRMINGHAM
It's a bank holiday weekend here in England and what better way to kick things off in the second city than a Friday night of Nu-Metal and Metalcore madness down at The Asylum. Coming off of the back of a 24 night run around mainland europe, tonight signals the start of the final run of gigs around the UK and Ireland for Vended, The Gloom In The Corner and Profiler.
Profiler
First up to entertain the Birmingham crowd are Nu-Metalers, Profiler. Fronted by vocalist/lead guitarist and all round driving force behind the Bristol based three piece, Mike Evans.
Their set is well put together, and although an initial timid response from the crowd with many opting to stay at the bar/in the smoking area, by the time they reach their closer “Zero” the main floor has nicely filled with the audience now adequately warmed up for what is to come.
The Gloom In The Corner
Then it's the turn of The Gloom In The Corner, self proclaimed as the “the convicts that you lot let back in”, a Metalcore four piece from Melbourne Australia.
Providing a shift in gear with some real face melting “caveman riffs” as described by charismatic frontman Mikey Arthur who had the crowd encapsulated right from the opening number.
I wasn’t sure if bassist Paul Musolino was auditioning for the next Jackie Chan flick, with his kung-fu skills firmly on show, high kicking his way through every other breakdown.
Recent release “The Jericho Protocol” goes down well with the crowd, seeing the first meaningful pit of the night.
The sign of a good set, before I knew it Arthur announced that they were onto their final song for the evening.
Vended
Hailing from Des Moines, Iowa. For those who have not come across Vended before, on the surface it is hard not to compare them to Slipknot, with lead singer Griffin Taylor and Simon Crahan on drums being the offspring of Slipknot's very own Corey and Clown respectively; many will have questioned if this band (rounded out by Jeremiah Pugh on bass, and Cole Espeland and Conor Grodzicki on guitars) are simply just of privileged kids “having a go” at music aided by a bit of nepotism? Spoiler alert…no. Vended are very much a rising force in their own right, with the talent to back up their pedigree.
Like many breakthrough bands of the 2020’s Vended have shunned the traditional promotional routes and have instead found immense success building a strong fan base through DIY social media self promotion. With the reception that they received when they took to the stage and the amount of those in attendance who knew most of the words, it's clear that their fan base is rapidly rising.
The lights dim as Soft Cell’s Tainted Love begins to play, the crowd noticeably buzzing as they sing along before the band eventually emerge on stage.
Griffin greets the audience, a combination of blue, black and white face paint showing that he is ready for battle. The rest of the band are also sporting some form of ‘warpaint’ with bassist Pugh looking almost muzzled in his mask.
What follows is roughly an hour of what I can only describe as an audio assault, but in a good way. Such is the energy of this set that all semblance of the original paint has streaked away from Griffin’s face and is gradually smearing down his chest. The performance is visceral, high in tempo and well polished, Vended are definitely deserving of bigger stages and bigger accolades.
Often compared to his old man, the similarities between Griffin’s and Corey’s voices are uncanny, although what is evident through the sheer power and grit of his delivery and the presence with which he commands the stage, Griffin more than lives up to the Taylor family name.
Giving their thanks to both the crowd and the bands that came before, Vended finished the night off, quite aptly for the venue, with fan favourite “Asylum”. By the end of the evening the audience were hanging on to Griffin’s every word; the pit was wide, middle fingers were raised in the air on command and there was not a person who was not drenched head to toe in sweat by the time floor lights came up and all were ushered out.
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Show Review - Lordi - O2 Institute, Birmingham
reviewed for music scene media:
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Full Transcript:
It was a very bleak and dreary evening in Digbeth, but spirits weren’t dampened as fans queued outside of Birmingham's O2 Institute eager to spend an evening with Eurovision royalty. Hot off of their cover feature on Scandinavian Vogue, Lordi were bringing their mix of Shock Glam Rock and Heavy Metal to England's second city.
But before the Finnish rock monsters took to the stage, the sellout crowd needed to be suitably warmed up, firstly by Brighton based outfit Crimson Veil. Fittingly bathed in an ethereal red glow, the other-worldly set, punctuated by Mishkin Fitzgerald’s haunting vocals, left all in attendance fully under her hex. Giving vibes of a sort of pagan ritual, the dark visuals of the band were personified by the suitably atmospheric staging which, combined with the emotive strings of Hanah Piranha, encapsulated their particular brand of dark progressive metal perfectly.
Then with a complete shift in tone were German power metallers All For Metal. Co-fronted by the booming voice and metaphorical ‘Mountain of Power’ that is Tim “Tetzel” Wagner and the incredible range fiercely delivered by Antonio Calanna, All For Metal delivered a raucous show full of punch. With a sound reminiscent of acts like Manowar and Brothers of Metal; All for Metal, complete with a bass playing cackling steampunk monkey; took us on a fun high energy romp through tales of nordic legend and conquest. All in attendance were fully onboard, chanting back on demand the hooks to ‘Raise Your Hammer’ and ‘Hear The Drum’. Although their time on stage was fleeting, they surely made many new fans on the night. Closing their set off with Mjolnir raised aloft in Tetzel’s sizably worthy arms, the crowd were left definitely wanting more.
Now with the packed institute absolutely buzzing with anticipation it was onto the main event, the absolute theatrical treat that is Lordi.
The lights dimmed as ‘God of Thunder’ by KISS begins to play, on steps Ralph Ruiz (theatrical actor and long time Lordi collaborator) cloaked and hooded as the monk/druid Nosferuiz. Initially singing along to the glam rock legends he slowly made his sinister way to centre stage before breaking into the opening monologue from the 2023 album ‘Screem Writers Guild’ to introduce the band.
With the rest of the band assembled onstage and the opening riffs beginning to ring out, on came the dramatic entrance of charismatic frontman Mr Lordi, emerging through a curtain featuring his own grotesque face. The show kicked off with the titular track of the tour, ‘Unliving Picture Show’, reminding us that for all of the shock of their costuming, Lordi do make some really bloody catchy music.
The show was jam packed with designed set pieces; a jump scare scarecrow leaping out unsurprisingly during ‘Scarecrow’, a smoking snake during ‘Wake the Snake’, glow in the dark wolf pelts, severed limbs and confetti cannons galore.
Despite the commanding stature and larger than life stage presence of Mr Lordi, each instrumentalist was given an individual moment to shine, getting their own themed interlude sprinkled amongst Lordi’s many hits. Mana had a Star Wars themed drum solo, complete with spinning bass drum and glowing lightsaber drumsticks. Hilsi with a Jurassic Park medley on their bass guitar, featuring the return (then swift devouring by Hilsi) of Ralph Ruiz, now dressed as Jurassic Park’s John Hammond (no expense was spared in his costume for this ‘bit’). Kone got busy fretting out the theme to Richard Donner’s Superman; with Hella playing, amongst other things, the score from Halloween on the keyboard.
The majority of the set was derived from the most recent record ‘Screem Writers Guild’ along with ‘The Monsterican Dream’ which is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. The first of the “big hits”' that we were witness to was ‘Who’s Your Daddy’ from 2006’s ‘The Arockalypse’, there was a packed flourish of familiar tunes to come at the end of the set, but more on that later.
Mr Lordi, treated the Birmingham crowd to an anecdote about a local lad, the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne. Hiding out in their dressing room during an edition of Ozzfest, so that he could escape having to do his daily aerobics. Watching the band getting ready for their set and donning all of their shock rock garb, he left them with a nugget of advice “try not to melt out there on stage”, before he was himself carted away by his personal trainer.
As the show builds towards the final curtain, we get the super catchy classics ‘Devil is a Loser’, which sees Mr Lordi’s with demonic wings at full stretch (if there is one criticism of this particular show, it is that Lordi fully deserved to be on a much much bigger stage, the band even joked that the O2 Institute was comically the smallest stage of the tour so far); and ‘Would You Love a Monsterman’ both from 2002’s ‘Get Heavy’.
Many, including myself, would have been first exposed to Lordi following their win at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, becoming the first metal act to take home honour. No Lordi set would be complete without playing “that song”. Saving the best till last, by the time Hella started with the opening keys to ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’ the crowd was in absolute bedlam, and when Mr Lordi re-appeared on stage, with the classic axe in hand, there was not a single person in the house who did not have their arms high in the air and jumping along to that winning song.
With the floor lights finally up and humming along to another KISS classic, ‘God Save Rock And Roll For You’, it was time for us all to shuffle back out into the bleak English weather, however, now made much more bearable for being so thoroughly entertained for the past couple of hours.
The Unliving PicTour Show ‘24 continues for Lordi around Europe with dates through to May.
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Album Review - Korpiklaani - 'Rankarumpu'
Reviewed for Out of Rage Network
Full Transcript:
Powerhouse Finnish folk metallers Korpiklaani are back with their twelfth studio album ‘Rankarumpu’; with shamanic frontman Jonne Järvelä returning to form penning the lyrics for the majority of the record. Reflecting Järvelä’s move from the city to the secluded lakes and forest of the Finnish countryside, this new setting has definitely inspired the themes explored in this new album; the Finnish landscape, Scandinavian legends, and with just a little bit of the raucous camaraderie that we have come to know the band for sprinkled in for good measure.
The album opens with a metaphorical punch to the face with the extremely catchy and velocious ‘Kotomaa’, translated as ‘Homeland’. Detailing the blue skies and snowy white lands of the band's Finnish home; the tempo and sonic chaos of this opening number, allows you to imagine that it would not feel out of place soundtracking a few rowdy nights out down at the Green Dragon in Hobbiton. The real headbanging anti-war monolith, ‘Tapa sen kun kerkeet’ (translated to ‘Kill it when you can’) follows. Järvelä’s delivery and the fierceness of the music carries through into the meaning of the song.
‘Rankarumpu’ is the first studio outing of former Turisas violinist Olli Vänskä, getting stuck straight into proceedings he is responsible for possibly the catchiest tune on the record, ‘Saunann’ (‘To the Sauna’). With lyrics penned by drummer Samuli Mikkonen, this toe-tapping jig, will surely be a favourite amongst fans. Those who attended the recent UK and Ireland tour can attest to this as they would have witnessed the chaos of ‘Saunann’ in the flesh as part of Korpiklaani’s supporting set.
The titular ‘Rankarumpu’, described by Järvelä as a “conscious tribute to the band and its members, summing up what Korpiklaani is”, is an impassioned chuggy romp that you will find impossible to stay still to. This is immediately followed by ‘No perkele’ (‘Well the devil’ or ‘Well god damn’), which opens with the once again strong fiddle work of Vänskä, fingering a tune that is oddly familiar (reminiscent of Slipknot’s ‘Wait and Bleed’ perhaps). Perkele being both an evil spirit of Finnish folklore and a modern-day profanity in Finland; you’ll find this particular track a real earworm. It’s catchy and we will be humming along to it for days to come.
The album sticks the landing with the soaring ‘Harhainen höyhen’ (‘A Stray Feather’), this time bringing in wind instruments and more of a banjo tone in the guitars. Järvelä goes into full shaman mode, with his chant-like lyrics. The song really builds to a melodic anthemic finish to the record. This track in particular feels like it is best listened to whilst surrounded by woodland on an astrologically important day of the year. Stepping away from the slightly slower tempo of recent records, such as 2018’s ‘Kulkija’ and most recently 2021’s ‘Jylhä’. ‘Rankarumpu’ see’s the sextet back to their high tempo best.
Korpiklaani have always been experts of blending traditional instruments in with the more mainstream harsh vocals, rousing riffs and fierce drum beats of their music; but fans of the more folky sounds will be pleased with not only the skill of the extremely talented Vänskä on violin and Sami Pertula on accordion, but also the way that those instruments are pushed to the forefront and are truly celebrated on this album. Sadly the depths and nuances of the lyrics will elude all but those fluent in Finnish (as this whole album is penned in the band's native tongue). Die-hard fans will surely agree, although (to our english speaking ears at least) the record appears to lack an out-and-out lyrical drinking song in the vein of past favourites: ‘A Man With a Plan’, ‘Beer Beer’, ‘Jagermeister’ or ‘Vodka’, ‘Rankarumpu’ appears to continue the band's evolution into themes that have a deeper meaning to them since their first release back in 2003.
‘Rankarumpu’ is a familiar foray back into the high-tempo folk chaos that they would have fallen in love with some twenty-something years ago. Soon to embark on a headline North America Tour (supported by Visions Of Atlantis and Ilumishade); UK fans will be able to catch Korpiklaani headlining, what is sure to be a highlight party set, on the Sophie Lancaster Stage on Saturday August 10th at this summer's edition of Bloodstock Festival in Derbyshire.
‘Rankarumpu’ is released April 5th via Nuclear Blast Records.
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