Cosmic horror, or eldritch horror, has become a subgenre of weird fiction emulating the style of American author H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937). In terms of music, this Lovecraftian horror has probably never been captured better than by the Finnish metal shamans, ORANSSI PAZUZU. Their 2020 album “Mestarin Kynsi” was arguably the most ambitious and grandest blend of psychedelic kraut-metal ever released on this side of the abyss. It surely was an all-encompassing endeavor – challenging and rewarding in equal measure. Now, the shamanic journey continues with their sixth studio album “Muuntautuja,” released on October 11th, 2024, via Nuclear Blast. Recalling their previous endeavor, this new album is quite a deep dive into the unforgiving darkness of the human soul by means of krautrock riffs, black-metal shrieks, and psychedelia. While the band’s black-metal DNA is still somewhat audible through the myriad layers of influences, this is not perhaps the most optimal music to wear corpse paint to.
Once again, these metal alchemists aren’t pulling any punches. The opener, “Bioalkemisti,” is just as intense as you would expect if you paid any attention to the band’s previous album. The plus-5-minute introduction to the new album sounds like a fit of genuine psychological anguish harnessed into a relentless stream of dissociative guitar riffs. No surprises, there.
The next track, “Muuntautuja,” however, rolls out some novel influences. The band has openly flirted with dark ambient, krautrock, and whatnot on their previous endeavors, but the title track of this effort here recalls the spliff-induced paranoia of those mid-1990s trip-hop classics, if not even the sound of the late PORTISHEAD. According to the word on the streets, ORANSSI PAZUZU was listening to the noise-hip-hop outfit DEATH GRIPS while crafting this album. Maybe so, but this track, in particular, comes almost off as a sly tribute to the work of Geoff Barrow. Of course, the pre-millennial tension associated with those revered trip-hop classics of yesteryear pales in comparison with the intense nature of this little beast.
Then, the dark psychedelia of “Voitelu” seems like a kindred spirit of last year’s BLUT AUS NORD album “Disharmonium – Nahab.” Yes, there are distinct Lovecraftian echoes in both cases. Toward the end, the classical piano flourishes elevate this song to a league of its own, subtly recalling some of the most intense moments on ULVER‘s 2005 album “Blood Inside.”
The trip-hop impression intensifies in “Hautatuuli.” This time, the trip-hop beat is laced with highly unsettling synth textures that nod toward the haunting soundtracks of the video game series, Silent Hill. If Akira Yamaoka had opted for the black-metal aesthetic, his work would probably have sounded like ORANSSI PAZUZU‘s latest endeavor. Much like the game and its solid soundtrack, this album relies on an overall atmosphere of dread and unease, so flirting with the darkly shaded sounds of trip-hop kind of makes sense, don’t you think?
After a brief interlude of dark ambient, “Valotus” gears up on mesmerizing black-metal riffs. The song is basically a nonstop ostinato in some weird time signature. Unsurprisingly, the meaty riffing is pretty intense; so, if CAN and the like are typically dubbed krautrock, I guess this type of riffage ought to be called something like sauerkrautrock. It requires an acquired taste to fully appreciate its flavor. Just before the raw, unhinged, and atonal coda, there are some ethereal piano arpeggios, reverberating on top of the brutal riffage, and they sure put a nice frosting on this sonic mud cake.
There is yet another song triggering nice ULVER flashbacks. The 10-minute epic of progressive black metal, “Ikikäärme,” is nicely reminiscent of the ULVER album, “Perdition City,” (2000) with all those cinematic and electronic elements. The somewhat shamanic undercurrent also echoes the sound of the experimental supergroup KTU, fronted by the Finnish accordion legend, Kimmo Pohjonen. By the looks of it, ORANSSI PAZUZU are slowly evolving their signature sound toward something new – and the proggier the better!
Finally, the album is brought to a close with the retro-ish ambient of “Vierivä Usva” – a hypnotic song that sounds as though having been written by TANGERINE DREAM‘s evil twin. It is quite a mellow and atmospheric closer, considering the intensity of the other tracks. Then again, the album title is Finnish for ”Transformer,” as if to suggest that these avant-garde metal shamans are not ones to become set in their ways – ever. Yes, “Muuntautuja” is yet another win for this crazy bunch.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Bioalkemisti
- Muuntautuja
- Voitelu
- Hautatuuli
- o
- Valotus
- Ikikäärme
- Vierivä Usva
Lineup
Ville “Evil” Leppilahti – grand piano, vocals, effects
Niko “Ikon” Lehdontie – guitars, sampler, synths
Juho “Jun-His” Vanhanen – the voice, guitars
Jarkko “Korjak” Salo – drums
Toni “Ontto” Hietamäki – bass, synths
Label
Nuclear Blast
Links
https://oranssipazuzu.com
https://www.facebook.com/@oranssipazuzuband
https://www.instagram.com/oranssipazuzu
