Äpäre

Ajattara have always reveled in their simplistic method of executing slow to mid-paced black metal with native lyrics, almost folk-like in places without the use of excess acoustics or humppa instrumentation (they DID release an acoustic folk album just this year though). Critical praise for the band has plummeted since their inception, it seems with each new album, as the band becomes marginally more accessible, they turn off another wave fans. I could care less about this myself, but sadly 'Äpäre' was their last output of quality (2007's follow-up Kalmanto is an atrocity against Ukko). Much of the negative critique is misplaced here: despite the cleaner tones and subdued aggression, 'Äpäre' is a powerful effort with some highly memorable fare.

A trance-like synthesizer launches the big grooves of "Hurmasta", Ruoja (Pasi Koskinen) snarling like a wounded man cut open and left to die in the stellar winter. That's right, you never heard him do vocals like these when he was fronting Amorphis. "Raato" creates a simple, depressive doom groove, while keys create a subtle lift to the dark and constant chords of the chorus. "Säälin Koira" is outrageously good, my favorite track of the album for the dark and fretful verse and glorious chorus. Reall, this is all I require out of an Ajattara album. More of this please! "Lautuma" is dark and frothy, like a tavern at midnight, its patrons mostly gone or drunk on the floor, when a maniac with a rusted scythe arrives. Koskinen's vocals once again put the simplicty of the composition over the edge with venomous black poetry. "Eksyneet" escalates its careening acoustic line into a snake-charmer's rhythm of brutal tutelage. "Hirsipuulintu" transforms from dark piano chord into an Amon Amarth-like charger of dark bloodshed. Again, basic and hypnotic riffing, synthesizer presence and dense throat create an unforgettable haunting environment. Of the album's remainder, "Itse" is notable for its slow and creepy crawl, while "Koito" is one of the most atmospheric pieces here.

While some might feel it's too 'clean' to be effective, the production of this record nonetheless maintains the ominous tones required for conquest. I could liken this record to Barathrum playing in a department store but no one would understand. Ajattara simply shares that same sense of bombast and black purity, stripped of its needless excess and delivered right from the gut like an axe to the neck. 'Äpäre' may lack some of the raw tones of its predecessors, but it's equally worthy and stands poised at the height of their discography to date.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

The fact that this is a Black Metal band is more than obvious. I started writing down some notes about this release and I found some interesting info along the way. Even though it took some time to understand what is going on with the line up, I finally realized that the album has been recorded by these three guys. And the main guy, Ruoja will definitely be well known to most of you.

So, AJATARRA were formed in 1996 in Helsinki, Finland. AJATARRA is an evil goddess of the forests in Finnish mythology. The interesting fact, which I didn't know about this band, is that it is a side project of AMORPHIS frontman, Pasi Koskinen. "Apare" is their fourth full-length album. All of their albums have been released through Spikefarm.

So, the Finnish blacksters produce a mid tempo Black Metal album that even though avoids the classic Black Metal that is full of blasts and stuff, it manages not to sound fresh and different. While listening to this album, there were times when I was wandering why does Ruoja play something like this since he is producing great things with AMORPHIS. AJATTARA's previous works were much more inspired, but it seems that now, the band just follows the good old recipe and releases an album that lacks of inspiration and new ideas. The level of this album and the level of their earlier ones cannot be compared at all! Even though the album starts quite good, it ends up being boring in a very short time. The songs are structured in a very amateur way and you can just listen to simple riffs, the one after the other. Nothing is able to surprise the listener. One word that can describe this release is the word "predictable". The album's total playing time isn't more than 33 minutes. I can also say that the synths are used a lot, something that instead of creating a darker atmosphere, makes the sound tiring.

All in all, "Apare" is an album that proves that Black Metal lacks of new ideas. In my humble opinion, if you want to listen to something by this band, better go buy one of their earlier albums, for example the really nice "Kuolema" (2003).

Originally written for Metal-Temple.Com
Yiannis D.

Ajattara are always blamed of doing the same album over and over again, and while this statement is not entirely false, they still manage to enchant audiences with their "Dark Metal" style, which is nothing more than Black Metal, played in mid-tempo and sung in Finish.

The feeling between Ajattara productions is quite familiar, there are no radical changes from record to record, they play it safe and is paying them off, because with each record Ajattara consolidate themselves as a striving force in the Metal scene. A force that is releasing albums almost every year, maintaining themselves fresh in the heads of every metalhead. I picture the band gathered in the studio and saying, "well, we're going to record 3 albums today" and then they just wait and release each one every year, that's gotta be a tough job.

But maybe my input was wrong from the start, maybe I should apply the old saying "If it ain´t broken, don't fix it".

I like Ajattara music, so, why should I expect a change? Maybe Ajattara are beyond terms like progression, evolution and development, maybe they really like what they're playing and they want to remain in the same path.

With this tough on my mind I went to re-discover Äpäre (trans. "Bastard"), because I was only viewing the negative side on the first spins. And I must say it really turned out for the best, the catchy melodies and the somber atmospheres of this album are quite unique, to the point that I must say that I haven't heard any band that resembles Ajattara, and believe me, I've heard many bands.

So in a nutshell, if you like Ajattara previous efforts, you'll surely like this one, if you don't know the band, but you love melodic and catchy mid-paced Black Metal I strongly recommend to give this a try. And remember, "If it ain´t broken, don't fix it".

Ajattara demonstrates a consistency in their releases that is almost bad-reputation generating. Luckily, their style of metal is original enough and musically-challenging not to make them boring... yet. Of course, in the light of their previous three albums, one might expect them to have changed quite a lot in that time. Well, they hadn’t. This is good for their original fans (such as myself) but may bore the hell out of some people.

Their previous three albums are hard to distinguish from one another and they’re all good (but short) pieces of music. This is a trend that is continued on Äpäre. 9 short songs (all under 4 minutes, 3 under 3 minutes) and an arguably melodic outro, account for a bit over 32 minutes. However, this shouldn’t be taken as a disadvantage, because, as you will be able to hear, the time is fully exploited. What I like about it is that they don’t waste too much time on a certain rhythm or theme. They do the job in about 3 minutes and there comes the next song. Granted, the fundamental beat might sound the same for an untrained ear or at first listen, but it’s not so. The album brings quite enough diversity. The short songs are a bit strange for this style of music but I'm surprised to see that it sounds so good overall.

As usual, keyboards have their role in Ajattara’s music. They add a nice mysterious atmosphere and sometimes they’re in cacophony with the guitars but guess what, it sounds great! Pasi’s growls need no introduction, the dude does the job admirably and there isn’t anything I can say against him, especially that songs like “Tahtomattaan” and “Syntyni” showcase nice (although scarce) clean vocals, and that’s a plus for this release.

The lyrics are again in Finnish and it appears that Pasi doesn’t have the slightest intention of “internationalizing” his texts. Again, I regard this as a plus, as it effectively separates Ajattara from “the rest” and inspires certain “mysticism” to the music.

All in all, a rather “standard” Ajattara release, although I must admit that *there are* a few changes in the overall sound, can’t exactly say what. Maybe it’s the production (which by the way, I find ok). Perhaps with some other bands, I might be able to distinguish the order of their albums chronologically, but with Ajattara this is next to impossible. They got 4 albums out (at the time of this review) and even tough each album *does* have a spirit of it’s own, the overall foundation of the music is the same.

Sometimes (very) slow black metal can be a good variation to the blast-fest one so often associates with that particular genre. Considering how rare and extinct slow types of the darker sides of metal are, an output of it automatically feels fresh. However, as with everything, there are exceptions.

The miracle known as “Ajattara” has since long grown into a mature band, whose skillfull members know exactly what to play within the band. While it may appear masterful that since day one of this project they’ve stuck to their own, very distinct formula, it all must come to an end some day. My personal opinion is that such a day has to be seen soon. The reason for my view on that is that it’s gone too far. The music offered no longer has the striking sound of their earlier albums. It hasn’t changed at all, and spins through one simple riff after another. It’s uninspiring in most ways, and just feels dull. “Äpäre” in its entirety lacks quality on many levels.

The record starts out with two quite strong tracks. “Hurmasta” & “Raato” lead the way towards boredom quite nicely, and while neither of the songs are strong, they’re certainly better than the others. That said, I think it might be related to their position on the album as well (can’t get “bored” with the first tracks…). Ajattara overuse keyboards much too often. And they overuse them in a way that is unnecessary. More than often, the synth follows the guitar instead of constructing different patterns. It works on some songs, but the majority of them suffer badly from it. The drums are stale as a dead fish, and do little to heighten the mood. The vocals are the usual mid-growls with a lot of subtle reverb. Most of the riffs are unimaginative and have in several ways been heard on Ajattara’s other songs.

On every single other of their offerings, there has been a certain power over the whole sound which strikes the listener directly. Surprise, surprise, as “Äpäre” sounds disturbingly flat for an Ajattara album. I guess they’ve just used the wrong equipment this time, or it was mastered poorly. Their previous album “Tyhjyys” had some of this sound in it, but here it’s presented worse than ever. It sounds bleak rather than powerful, and requires one to turn up the volume very high to experience anything at all.

I wish things were different, as they’ve been a major influence on me, but nobody should be tricked into buying this album without having listened to their better stuff first. Check out their back catalogue instead (especially “Kuolema”). My final interpretation of this band is that there’s really nothing interesting Ajattara can offer anymore. It’s a shame, but I hope they retire this band soon, and get on with their other projects.

What a strange release this is. It is really unknown what to expect from this "dark metal" band. It clearly isn't black metal... At parts... It has some influences such as the vocal style and possibly the "symphonic" feel to it. The power-cord riffs and basic drum beats are that of rock/nu metal. Here and there you'll hear a riff that could simulate a rough black metal feel.

Each song seems more like a short example of a future release by the band or a collection of radio singles (Nothing over 4 minutes). The guitar distortion and the tempo of each song give a radio friendly feel to it. It definitely works with the melodies that are used.

'Säälin Koira' has a techno-like outro before the semi-crunching intro of 'Lautuma'. They blend together seemingly. Which can be said about the entire album. Each song blends into the next perfectly. And since each song follows the basic beat nothing seems out of place. 'Lautuma' has an outro that blends into the intro of 'Eksyneet'. Then into next, etc, etc.

'Hirsipuulintu' has a hint of heaviness to it while songs like 'Eksyneet' and 'Tahtomattaan Syntynyt' end much sooner than it sounds like they want to. Instead of creating an album trying to appeal to a (very) wide audience and having real direction. It would be easier to create two or three seperate albums for each audience you are trying to reach.

The music is a tad slow but in no way boring. Certain aspects of each of the songs (namely the interesting outro-intro transitions) still keep little life in the album but definitely won't keep the album in my stereo. If this album could have been kept in one direction instead of attempting to make everyone happy, there could have possibly been a better chance for it.