Finnish heathen folk/black metal rogues MOONSORROW have been dubbed an enigmatic outfit by their international fans from the start; not only do the band squeeze their albums full of 15-minute epics, but they also sing exclusively in Finnish! As a Finn, this choice of language is no biggie, obviously. Still, the affinity toward such long-form song structures could run the risk of becoming an overly exhausting listening experience. Well, I jumped on the black-metal bandwagon quite late, straight from the prog realm, so I guess this tendency only added to the band’s heathen charm. Looking back some 10 years now, I had been introduced to the band’s music barely before they released their seventh studio album “Jumalten Aika” (something akin to “The Age of Gods,” in English) on April 1st, 2016, on Century Media. It certainly hit some primordial lizard region of the brain because it immediately clicked harder than any of my previous encounters with their songs – and on April Fool’s Day, eh? Instead of being a practical joke, however, the album proved to be a top-tier “maelstrom of gloomy grandeur drenched in myths“ (as per the band’s bio on their website) with rich Pagan folk flourishes, and so it went straight to #1 on the Finnish album chart! The album was well received by critics and metalheads alike, making its way to quite a few AOTY lists compiled by the music press at the end of the year. Due to this dedication to the long form, these five tracks stretch out to 67 minutes overall, which is quite a lot to ask from the casual listener in this day and age. To give credit where it’s due, every minute is highly engaging, thanks to the band’s diabolical knack for pacing these gargantuan epics in a tip-top and watertight manner. The band had already been around for over 20 years at the time, so they definitely knew what they were doing.
The album throws in its epic, 12-minute title track right away. “Jumalten Aika” unfolds like a haunting piece of nature-inspired Pagan romanticism, evolving nice-and-slow from an archaic sonic incantation into a heavy-chugging gloom-a-thon. It’s like an invitation to embark upon a sinister journey to the deepest North and into the darkest mythologies created in the murky depths of the human soul. Further into the album, you can detect subtle smoke trails of Finnish folk metal, from bands such as TURISAS and FINNTROLL, as well as classic black-metal influences from those pioneering Norwegian bands, but first and foremost, on “Jumalten Aika,” MOONSORROW sounds like no other band. All these influences merely add spice and flair to the songs. In tandem with the epic song structures, this unique mix grants the album great replay value.
Sharp-eared fans of Finnish folk-metal probably recognize that “Ruttolehto (incl. Päivättömän Päivän Kansa)” features Jonne Järvelä of KORPIKLAANI as a special guest on backing vocals. (It was quite a treat to witness this combo firsthand, also on stage last year!) There is a distinct shamanic vibe to the song, if not to the album as a whole, too, but it’s definitely different from the shaman-metal aura of bands such as ORANSSI PAZUZU or IA. It smells more like some homebrewed rotgut flavored with thick muck, and it factors into how the music does a great job at putting forth a sense of great, ancient mystery that keeps the listeners on the edge of their seats for an hour or so straight. Even the most straightforward and shortest track, “Suden Tunti,” has no mercy on you in this respect. Then again, “short” in this case means 7 minutes, so… How the band pulled this trick off so brilliantly again practically exceeds the limits of my understanding, but I’m sure glad they did!
The previous album “Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa” (2011) was already a masterclass in cinematic black metal, but somehow MOONSORROW managed to raise the bar even higher with these new, beautified odes to tragedy. The black metal antics are toned down a bit in favor of the folk flourishes, but I’m not sure whether the band ever truly considered themselves a tr00-kvlt black-metal oufit above all, but perhaps more likely as a horde of metal heathens. All labels aside, the music is inherently transcendental, so I guess it doesn’t really matter whether you call them the spirit elders of Pagan metal or just a bunch of rabid wolves. I saw the band live for the first time last year at the Hellsinki Metal Festival, and that spectacular, utterly haunting, and awe-inspiring 6-song set included three bangers from this album, so I reckon the band is well aware by now that they achieved something very special with this endeavor and reached a new level of potency. It speaks to the very deep and primal levels of our consciousness, as a true magnum opus should. Their earlier work had already made a good impression internationally, but I reckon it was this very album that sealed the band’s reputation as one of the coolest Pagan/black-metal exports of Finland. In short, “Jumalten Aika” was a grand summation of everything that had made the band great in the first place, a snapshot in time, one which would become timeless in and of itself.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Jumalten Aika
- Ruttolehto (incl. Päivättömän Päivän Kansa)
- Suden Tunti
- Mimisbrunn
- Ihmisen Aika (Kumarrus Pimeyteen)
Limited Mediabook Edition:
- Soulless (GRAVE cover; bonus track)
- Non Serviam (ROTTING CHRIST cover; bonus track)
Lineup
Ville Sorvali – bass, lead vocals
Henri Sorvali – guitars, keyboards, vocals
Mitja Harvilahti – guitars, vocals
Markus Eurén – keyboards
Marko Tarvonen – drums, vocals
Label
Century Media
