Sudentaival

"Sudentaival", the third full-length by the long-lived authority known as Horna, dispenses with a preface. Drums, guitars and bass immediately burst out of the speakers with elemental force and it takes less than five seconds for the lead singer to scream his first hate-filled messages into the microphone. His ardent performance in combination with the infernal guitar leads, well executed tempo shifts, mega-heavy mid-tempo parts and a basic violence form an uncompromising opener. The only thing that surprises me is that no blood drips from the speakers. Guess they are broken.

Of course, there is not just one way how black metal can be performed. But the uttermost ferocious form to which Horna have dedicated themselves reflects a lot of the genre’s pure essence. And the more Horna walks the straightest path, the more their music starts to enlighten the cold Finnish nights. A fantastic killer like “Haudanusva” shows that merciless hammering of the drums and minimally melodic guitars can liaise in a very exciting way, but the sinister mid-paced segments of the track also work. The singer's vomit orgy at the end is equally stunning. But this is just a hint for those of you who cannot live without the delicate details.

The following “Skaldiriimu” is a little downer, because it illustrates that even the most unscrupulous bullies need a break from time to time. I don’t say that mega-atrocious is good and less furious is bad per se, but “Skaldiriimu” does not succeed in captivating me. All the more reason for me to welcome the fact that things are back to normal with “Kun synkkä ikuisuus avautuu“, even though it holds some pretty crude background vocals. But such details aside, it is ovious that the compositions of Horna convey the spirit of the genre in an authentic manner.

Okay, „Sudentaival“ is surely not the most atmospheric black metal album ever. Buit this is only logical, because its focus is definitely set on hateful aggression. Nevertheless, in rare moments melancholy and sadness flare up. The same goes for expressive riffs. Sometimes the generally apocalyptic approach almost suffocates the guitars, but the beginning of “Noidanloitsu” gives room to striking guitar lines. Of course, the density and violence of the quite raw production takes its toll and some nuances are falling by the wayside. Either way, after all there can be no doubt that “Sudentaival” is not perfect, but very good. Check out the title track, which is divided in two parts, a fatalistic slow-paced beginning with broad, flattening guitars and a typical murderous massacre after a short break. If you like this track, you will certainly enjoy the entire album as well. No doubt, Horna are one of the most famous of the five million Finnish black metal bands for a reason.

At the early stages of its path Horna was recording majorly dynamic and fervent material, where aggression appeared to be the dominant quality of the band's music. Such phenomenon is pretty common for young artists. "Sudentaival" became a peak of all the hatred, that had been cultivated during Horna's early years. This album was the fastest and the most aggressive in the band's discography up to the date of its release and it remains a one of the band's harshest works today.

So, stylistically "Sudentaival" is a high-paced piece of black metal. The riffs carry tons of dark energy. That's how the music sounds, not only rough, but also energetic. It's actually quite common for Finnish black metal bands to possess a sort of a rock'n'roll-ish / punk-ish vibe, which together with the characteristic Finnish melodicism makes the stereotypical Finnish sound. Of course, Horna had those features too, although the band had always been more sinister, than the majority of other Finnish bands. Yet early Horna possessed the drive and in combination with pronounced aggression it made the music of "Sudentaival" catchy.

The album starts with fast and pounding melodies without any kind of intro, in contrast to previous main releases of Horna. There are some changes of themes, but generally the music of "Sudentaival" flows in a violent and hateful way and it becomes totally breathtaking by the third composition, which is "Black Metal Sodomy", a one of Horna's most significant tracks. However, some other highlights of the album have the lower tempo. For example, the main melodies of "Skaldiriimu", "Hautajaisyö" and "Noidanloitsu" are mid-paced, yet no less catchy. And, as it has already been said, the melodical aspect is still present. For instance, it's well-noticeable on "Skaldiriimu" and "Hautajaisyö", and also on "Kun synkkä ikuisuus avautuu", which has a quite epic passage with clean vocals accompanying screaming.

"Sudentaival" is produced well, which is ironically a disadvantage. This is actually the main problem of the album, which caused the most of negative opinions about it. The sound is too polished for black metal. This genre is obviously inclined to raw sound, which became a one the fundamental features creating dark atmosphere. Furthermore, even Shatraug himself later noted, that as the result he wasn't much happy with the sound of "Sudentaival". Still it's not a very big disadvantage, just because the quality of the music covers the quality of the sound. There simply are a lot of catchy riffs.

Overall, "Sudentaival" is a very good album. Its main advantage is in the combination of the extreme aggression and breathtaking energy. Some albums can have more of the first quality and become too boring, other albums can have more of the second quality and become less harsh. "Sudentaival" has the great balance of those qualities. The album became the last of the Horna's early era. Nazgul left the band afterwards to focus on Satanic Warmaster, while Horna continued to develop and changed the sound, what appeared to be beneficial for the band. Yet it's good, that there's such album like "Sudentaival" in the discography of Horna.