You do learn something new every day, thanks to “Verjnuarmu” I learned that Finland is divided into regions and provinces, among the main tasks of the regions are regional planning and development of enterprise and education (thank you Wikipedia!!!); well this band is from the region of Savonia (not sure which side since there are Northern and Southern Savonia)…so what those this has to do with anything? Well because the album is sang in Savo, the dialect spoken by Finns in this region of the country, and according to some other reviewers, this is one of the only metal bands to actually perform their music in this dialect, so quite interesting if you think about it.

Ok, enough geography lessons (if I made any mistake interpreting the information, just drop me a letter); let’s get into the album, “Muanpiällinen helevetti” is great, it has it all, heavy guitars, catchy melodies, powerful vocals and a blend of melodic death metal and folk rhythms that really gives a very distinctive sound to “Verjnuarmu”.

The vocals go from clean segments to more severe screams, something like the rough parts on an Amorphis record (not the growls, the clean but rough segments) and they also have the classic death growl in here; even without understanding a word they are saying the lyrics are so catchy that you are going to end up making words up just to sing along.

The songs flow through a vary of influences creating an atmosphere of brutal euphoria, with a very precise drumming and sharp guitars that align perfectly with the folk focus rhythms of the vocals…I think is the vocal side that brings the folk sound into play here, because the guitars can very easily be related to a more Gothenburg sound than anything else.

I wanted to look up some information on the band, regarding their customs, but their official web page is in Finnish or Savo so I have no idea what they mean, but a band like this probably has something in mind.

The record begins with a very melodic death metal oriented intro on “Kurjuuvven valssi” the song hits you in the face with the first riffs, and when you think you got them all figured out, they come in with slow melodic segments introducing all the beauty and power of their lead singer, so from track one you are intrigued and anxious to hear more, and guess what they don’t disappoint, the whole record is great.

This record is ambitious, refreshing and authentic, get it.