Date: 2020
Total Time: 45:30
Label: Naturmacht Productions
Atmospheric Black Metal is a genre that in recent years has offered a plethora of mediocre/bad albums and has even begun to alter in some cases -for the worse. Considering that this kind of genre is not up for so many innovations, that’s a strange thing to say. But we have seen Post Metal elements making their appearances in large numbers, and also strange mixes of other metal genres in it and although productions have obviously improved over Black Metal’s beginnings, some are arguing Atmospheric Black metal is not at it’s best.
But that’s not the case here. MARRASMIELI (Marras is an old Finnish word for death, and Mieli, is the Finnish word for the Mind) are three Finns who give us their first Full-Length job after them having released their EP(having the name of the band as a title). So, Death of the Mind. The Finns play a purely atmospheric / melodic Black Metal. This is evidenced by the fact that the keyboards are shared by Zannibal (guitar, keyboards) and Nattvind (vocals, drums, keys), also having Maelgor on bass. The album starts with us hearing waves crashing upon the shores of the Finnish Sea, the seagulls in the background and then the flute and the violin coming in, and then you know it’s Primitive Black Metal grafted with atmosphere and melody.
The vocals are completely dry, the production could be fuller, the drums would be better off not sounding like a drum machine, but that makes sense given of the purpose of the album, which makes room for the necessary dry, diabolical atmosphere and the also necessary old school feeling. Melancholy intertwined with an old-fashioned atmosphere, which tries to travel you back in time. Coupled with a primordial, naturalistic feeling, it makes you feel like you’re wandering in a Finnish forest during the Winter, sometimes being scarεd of things like seeing an old figure staring you down from a frozen mountainside, or other situations.
The riffs have an epic feel to them, they are icy at times, and the aggression and rage of the early Black Metal era is present, while the guitar solos are very melancholic and melodic. Special mention should be made to “Karakorum”, a song-anthem for the genre, which could even make MOONSORROW proud for their creation. If the rest of the tracks were on the same level (they are by no means bad, they just don’t reach that point), we’d be talking about a landmark album.
One of the best debuts of its kind in recent years, having a track that could become their Mother North, it goes on to show that MARRASMIELI could well become one of the big bands of the genre in the future, further improving some things. May the evergreen forests and the dawn of the new morning give way to the shadows of the primeval lands!
Rating: 7/10
Editor: George Kourou
Related Link: Marrasmieli – Facebook Page
