Pervertigo

While Throne of Chaos' career should be preserved and displayed to the masses as an example of how to completely alienate your original fan base while releasing new material impressive enough to warrant a new, more dedicated following, there is still much to be said regarding the approach path that led to said stylistic transmutation. Pervertigo is naturally the awkward middle child of Throne of Chaos' oft-forgotten career, and as such, draws inspiration from both ends of the band's stylistic spectrum.

While closer to Menace and Prayer on a surface level, keen ears can hear many of the chill jam-session vibes and esoteric appeal of Loss Angeles creeping in and influencing the writing process. As with most earlier Throne of Chaos material, the listener can expect harmonic Gothenburg hooks alongside Sjöblom's ambient keyboard lines and the occasional saccharine clean vocal passage. The riffs have potential on their own, but just like their countrymen Children of Bodom, the leads will make Pervertigo a keeper to most listeners, regardless of what else is going on behind them. What really begins to set Pervertigo apart is the coherence summoned when the experimental elements begin to get cooking alongside the sugary-sweet goodness of the Finnish melodic death formula. Check out the closer "Game", which nearly borders on the progressive, what with it's spastic inability to stay put for any concerted length of time. One minute Kiljunen is busting out deep, overacted warbling, only to later give way to a whirlwind of keyboards, phased leadwork, and choppy barks. You end up wishing it (as with much of this album) was longer.

Other songs like the opener "Johnny B. Dead" and "Truth and Tragedy" attempt at crafting some sort of bizarre hybrid of both the mainstream and the vulgarly obscure. As expected, the quality varies immensely, generally living or dying by the potency of the main melodic hook. Hell, even the saccharine choruses become overshadowed when Throne of Chaos finds a truly engrossing melodic line and sticks with it. A number of throwbacks to the first album exist in the form of "Fistfucking and Alienseed" and the title track, both of which remind me of "The Scaffold Scenario" and ultimately recycle many of the same hooks from Menace and Prayer. As frivolous as Throne of Chaos' material may be, there is a certain easily-digestible appeal to much of the material that will always yield it a home no matter how elitist and anti-Finnish melodeath the public opinion becomes. The lyrics are easy to disregard, as these are some of the worst lyrics I have ever experienced, even in a sub-genre often associated with inanity on the lyrical front. Throne of Chaos is even worse than Norther in this regard, as they try to come off as snarky and witty in their delivery, but ultimately appear incomprehensible in the process.

Despite playing to the band's strengths for the lion's share of it's duration, Pervertigo exhibits some thin points at the seams when it forces a harsher, dryer groove-driven aesthetic like on "The System". The ratcheted-up presence of the rhythm section might turn heads at first, but the self-indulgent crooning and the lack of overt hooks make this one grind it's stylistic gears more often than it needs to. The convincingly-executed piano lines on "Reason to Be" only serve to accentuate the lack of a structured experimental side on Pervertigo as a whole. While those sufficiently interested in this avenue will find an ode to the band's experimental nature in Loss Angeles, the dearth of anything even remotely metal-related on said album signals many a cry of "Turncoat!" or "Traitor!" to be directed the band's way.

The bottom line is that Throne of Chaos never fully delivered on either of the followups to the exhilarating Menace and Prayer, Pervertigo included. The band members were aware of the feathers they would ruffle through the release of the controversial Loss Angeles LP, so they changed their moniker to the more succinct TOC shortly after Pervertigo's release in an attempt to distance themselves from the earlier material, even though it did anything but serve it's desired purpose.

Pervertigo is hardly a waste of time, but embodies much of the vapidity and vacuous nature of Finnish melodic death that is so often a point of contention amongst fans and dissenters of the style. The singer's accent is embarrassingly strong, the leads make a concerted effort at sounding as fruity as possible, and the entire metal element is diffused several times over - ultimately amounting to little more than background noise. It should be an offensive mess of an album, but a convincing delivery can go a long way towards selling the material within, and Throne of Chaos are always reliable in this context.

Finnish band Throne Of Chaos released their sophomore full-length album 'Pervertigo' back in 2002. I remember seeing the album in a record store, and its warped yet beautiful cover artwork struck me. Maybe I heard a song on the radio or read a review for the album, too, but my old brains do not recall. Maybe the title also made an impression, and the label who released it most certainly did. So, I dug my pockets and the CD was mine.

I probably had never heard the first album, 'Menace and Prayer', which was released in 2000. Actually the debut full-lengther was the last one out of their three albums I got (the last one 'Loss Angeles' came under the name of TOC in 2003). The band started as a melodic death/black metal one heard on 1997's 'Fata Morgana' EP, and went to the debut's Children Of Bodom style aggressive meets melancholic meets ablaze new Finnish metal style, which really began to expand without control, as bands and labels wanted to jump on the wings of the momentum.

The band was ready to move further from already populated area of bands inspired by COB, and lifted power metal as a bigger part over melodic death/thrash metal. 'Pervertigo' was a bold step towards, and kicked down genre fence or two without any hardship. They were more than ready for an adventure, but were metal music fans, too?

Probably not. Even though 'Pervertigo' was getting more or less approving reviews from critics, it is hard to say how big an impact it made on us metal fans (AM is made for pure hobby and metal music fanship): I personally do not know any metalhead who remembers the band differently than being "a COB-clone". The album certainly intrigued me as I was discovering power metal for the second time back in early 2000s.

Let's dive into 'Pervertigo'; "pervert I go" (so it happened, that the following album was not called 'PervertIAm'). Looking at the songtitles, too, meat and potatoes was not expected. Well, check out the photography, then... 'Johnny B. Goode' begins as a death/thrash song sounding very Swedish (for example Soilwork, Hypocrisy, Gardenian) with its tight riffage, harsh throat vocals and pounding, fast rhythms. But come the chorus, the game changes. Dreamy synthesizers and clean vocals are more from Sonata Arctica's book of songwriting (they had two albums under their belt in 2002). But the weird thing is, that T.O.C. made it without sounding like two different bands. Add a shredding yet intelligible, classical guitar solo and rhythm guitar work, and it's a cool start.

The title track mixes two style together more seamlessly, straight from the start. Minor key is now introduced, as generally expected from a Finnish band. Sounding like a heavier version of Sonata Arctica with thrashy tendencies, it is astonishing how T.O.C. nailed it. Joy of playing is tangible. While the band never was of orc-unit extreme metal material, here one can hear true liberation from shackles of genre restrains. 'The System' is a big hail to legendary Finnish thrashers Stone, with a lots happening in 2½ minutes, just like the first minute or so of 'No Nothing', before the song gets melodic with its heavy and power metal bits. It is catchy as fuck, contending with Thunderstone's Eurovision song contest songs they put out in 2007. And then comes alien-ish guitar solo part, that really wasn't foreseen... Seems to happen quite a bit here, then.

With 'Fistfucking and Alienseed' the band revisites COB, with harsh and clean vocals, but also put in some progressive metal parts. Thinking about prog metal, 'Truth and Tragedy' is a very uptempo one at that, with some dramatic vibes. 'Sleep' is one of the thrashy/melodic death metal ones, with fantastic lead guitar work and a bass guitar solo! 'Reason to Be' is, a bit unexpectedly, a ballad. But a fine on at that: Not too sugary, but more of an melancholic nature. Energy and melancholy melt into one on 'Game'. Travelling bass steals the show on this still very catchy and fast-ish song. Then the album abruptly is over at just under 38 minutes. I think this album has a similar kind of aura that Kyyria's 'Alien' (1997) has, which is, well, alien, atypical! Summertime music for headbangers right here.

The production job is amazing. It is very vivid throughout. Well-balanced all around, with bassy punch and trebly frequencies well heard. Fantastic achievement with producer/mixer Patrik Jerksten and mixer Fredrik Nordström.

After their demise, only the drummer Laitinen continued with metal music, in Bride Adorned and Thy Serpent, as did vocalists Isfeldt (for Dream Evil where he was guesting from) and Nykänen (harsh vocals; Warmen). It is a real shame, because besides being talented players, Harmaja, Kiljunen, Nora and Sjöblom were venturesome. I also feel they might have had more than one more album to give us to enjoy. Well, life takes unpredictable turns and maybe we'll get a reunion in 2045 or something... Now that sounds sci-fi, doesn't it?!?! 'Pervertigo' is the best Throne Of Chaos (or TOC) album, and recommended for those who aren't afraid hearing something a tad different.

(Newly written on July 27th, 2018)

When I first heard Throne of Chaos’ debut, MENACE AND PRAYER in 2000, I found them to be a pretty damn good imitation of Children of Bodom. At that point, it was hard to mention Throne of Chaos without mentioning their fellow Finns, and “big brother,” so to speak, CoB. Now, Throne of Chaos has grown up to develop their own sound, and I find myself wishing for the “CoB’s Little Brother” days. PERVERTIGO is quite the eclectic album taking the band’s former style of melodic blackened thrash-death-power metal into a new direction, not unlike Soilwork’s A PREDATOR’S PORTRAIT or NATURAL BORN CHAOS.

One one hand, we have straight up thrash-death metal on tracks such as the leadoff, “Johnny B. Dead,” “The System,” and “Sleep,” which include clean vocals, provided by Niklas Isfeldt (vocalist for Dream Evil) on the choruses while Pasi Nykänen handles the lead growls. On these songs, we have the straight-ahead raging metal of a good Soilwork track. “Johnny B. Dead” features some absolutely killer lead-riff combinations by Taneli Kiljunen and Joiku Harmaja , though I find the clean chorus to be quite out of place. “Sleep” is also a very good track in the same style; I really dig the acoustic breakdown halfway through. We also have the melodic power metal approach on songs such as “Fistfucked and Alienated,” “Truth and Tragedy,” and the album’s title track. Here, the keys come into full play in CoB fashion, though the overall sound is more typical clean power metal. The biggest surprise, however, comes from the almost completely prog-styled “No Nothing” and “Game.” The prog elements and structuring are incorporated in most of the tracks, so the band is on the right track here.

In the end, it is this mangling and mixing of styles that hurts Throne of Chaos on this album. Taken on a track by track basis, the majority of the songs are quite good (with the exception of the awful slow and plodding “Reason to Be”), but the album as a whole seems like it was just thrown together in a jumble. In short, it gives the impression of a band that is lacking in focus. All the fixings are here for a great album. We have slick guitar work, plenty of speed, a good sense of melody, and the right amount of pounding aggression. After taking a two year hiatus (due to the requirement of all Finns to serve in the national army), Throne of Chaos is ready to regain their momentum and redefine their style. The drive and musicianship has been laid down, and with a better developed talent for writing purposeful, tight songs, the next Throne of Chaos release can be quite an album.

Choice cuts: “Johnny B. Dead,” “No Nothing,” “Sleep”

(originally written by me for www.metal-rules.com, April, 2003)

Sounds like melodic death/thrash but with very good hardcore shouts and ballad-like singing with a pop sensibility. I laugh at the song title, "Fistfucking and Alienseed" cause the title sounds like some Anal Cunt song and I chuckle at the lyrics for the song "The System", it's just too silly. They sound like those college campus Socialists, here's some of the lyrics "Kill the system, use your own will, Kill the system, use your own mind", laugh out loud, that's stuff some wannabe rebelious punk band would chant, but oh well, the music kicks ass still. The music sounds like In Flames' Whoracle album, which had music that could be power metal if you changed the growls to 'high pitched kicked in the balls' singing. The track "Sleep" has a very catchy guitar line right from the start. "Reason to Be" is the sad piano ballad. The music gets really mellow then fast-paced, never gets boring for over doing something. Riffs are catchy, solos have the classic old school speed metal feel, and the high quality clean singing isn't cheesy like in Dream Theater or Manowar. They kind of remind me of Stonehenge, only Throne of Chaos could get heavyier. Good album, many people into speed metal, melodic death, and power metal could enjoy.

Wow, this album is so accessible and radio-friendly at times, yet so undeniably METAL and ass-kicking. Throne of Chaos's sound is described as very similar to that of Children of Bodom. They are one of two bands that are described that way on this site, the other being Norther. After hearing Needled 24/7 from Hate Crew Deathroll and a sample clip from Follow the Reaper, I feel inclined to say that I prefer Throne of Chaos over COB already. I can't be certain until I actually hear a full COB album though. Every song on this album is chock-full of quick, crunchy guitars, ultra-melodic vocals, harsh vocals, or a mixture of the two. I don't understand why bands like In Flames are so popular and bands like TOC aren't given the time of day. Compared to TOC, In Flames is very inferior in the overall driving aggression, riffing, and singing department, as well as the growling department. I'm not an expert on growling, but TOC's vocalist sounds pretty top-notch. The alternation of harsh and clean vocals give the band two dimensions, a happy, almost radio-friendly one, and a spiteful melodic death one. Did I mention it's CATCHY? It's not often when you can blatantly process catchiness and talent in a band in one fell swoop, but that's what I gather when listening to this album. Highlights include Sleep, Reason to Be, and Johnny B. Dead.