Darkness Needs Us

I was tempted to track this one down due to Morfeus' inclusion, not to mention the pretty killer cover art. At their core, Finnugor are not your typical two-piece symphonic black metal act; relatively lo-fi and more apt to crank out a stellar atmosphere before the riffs ever get cooking anything serious. The main appeal here is the huge cadre of guest vocalists, which sadly kneecap the final product because it ends up lacking conceptual cohesion. At times it reminds me of one of those Nuclear Blast All-Stars compilations, albeit struck from a wholly different mold musically. The entire affair is rather poignant and played for atmospheric efficiency. You certainly won't find bloated orchestrations or layer upon layer of guitars here, and to Finnugor's credit this plays to their strengths... most of the time, at least.

I have a rather well-tuned ear when it comes to Morfeus' playing style behind the ivories, and what he delivers here feels like earlier Limbonic Art, particularly up through In Abhorrence Dementia. That carnival-esque, maddening Arcturus-style synth assault is present and accounted for, albeit in an extremely toned down context. His style takes very simple keyboard lines and builds upon it slowly, in serpentine fashion. The best example of this would be "Lord of the Darkest Freedom," which feels like a B-side from In Abhorrence Dementia, even with that similar strange production. Some of the melodies are melancholic and epic, evoking a forlorn atmosphere that helps root the remainder in the realm of dead-serious, despite how cornball some of the synth melodies may be. "Vigour of the Dead" is another example of Finnugor doing their best Limbonic Art impression, and they come pretty damn close! Of course, having Morfeus in your corner certainly helps...

On the topic of the guest vocalists, I was particularly drawn to Atilla's contribution on the first track, as he did a great job on "From the Shades of Hatred" from The Ultimate Death Worship. Sadly, his performance is seriously downplayed due to the hypnotizing nature of the song itself. "Wings of Kryy" is probably the best Finnugor-only tune on here, feeling very much like a cathedral floating in outer space, a term I once heard used to describe In Abhorrence Dementia. I don't think any descriptor has ever come so close to nailing the particular aesthetic of these symphonic black metal bands. This isn't your typical Dimmu Borgir symphonic hogwash; there is atmosphere thick enough to cut with a knife on Darkness Needs Us, but it is a damn shame that the album feels frankly all over the place. There aren't enough coherent, straightforward gut-wrenchers to ameliorate the synth-heavy remainder. When they do appear, riffs are quite rote, practice-amp dissonance that we've heard before. It isn't bad, but it can't hope to pull the dead weight on its own.

In the end, Finnugor did admirably here, but the product was critically flawed from the outset. The guest vocalists also lacked individuality beyond Atilla, relegating to espousing the same moaning/tortured subtext that could have used one or two straight-up "screamers" to balance things out. I still love the keys on Darkness Needs Us, at times reminding me of the soundtrack to Gauntlet Legends, which is pretty cool. I wish more bands would attempt this style of symphonic black metal, but it feels like searching for a needle in a haystack sometimes. Finnugor did alright here, everything considered.

I've been a fan of Finnugor for a long time now since they've always released good stuff. Sadly though this is their best release yet. I'm not a fan of owning an album that has over 10 guests but I won't complain as majority of the members are from bands like Mayhem and Moonsorrow. No matter how much I describe Finnugor's music; it still won't be enough to show the brief view of what they really sound like. The music is symphonic black for sure... but there are also viking/folk elements. Quoting this site ''Finnugor stands for "Finnish-Hungarian"...fucking geniuses!

When you hear the opening track Darkness needs us you will know that you've already fucked up. You bought an album that is already so melodic in the first twenty seconds into the song which will leave you with no choice but repeating the song over and over. That's my case with this band, it took me a fucking year to go over through this whole album. It's fucking long and so catchy. The keyboards and strings sound like they were recorded in an actual orchestra. There's different melodies in each song in which there's a constant melody throughout the whole song. The keyboards are not really haunting, they are fucking epic. The keyboards sound like film soundtracks but with black metal shrieks that wouldn't work now would it? Lord of The Darkest Freedom and Fire-Raiser of Devastation are two tracks that are very folky influenced. The folk elements also sound a bit Middle Eastern. The production of the keyboards is great but with the other instruments it's acceptable but can be much better. I guess the members of Finnugor wanted to keep the tradition of black metal as it was and keep the music a bit raw. I wish the instruments' production was as good as the keyboards. There's a chorus in every song and there's thirteen tracks! It can't get any better than that.

Since there's eight guest vocalists on this album, it was hard for me at the start to actually enjoy this album. Each vocalist sounds fucking different but again the more I listened to it the more I started to love it. The main vocals used are your typical black metal shrieks and that deep viking metal voice. Eight different vocalists can make you neglect this album because you won't know what to expect next. Although that's where the good fun is at! This is an epic release, you must purchase this if you are a symphonic black metal fan. Orchestral metal taken to new level...fucking oath!

Fans of dark, gothic tinged, symphonic black metal better take notice here. As a collaborative effort between one Godslayer N. Vassago (who resides in Finland) and Gabriel Wolf (who lives in Hungary), Finnugor is one of the more ridiculously demented Black Metal bands around today.

Enlisting no less than ten guest vocals (as well as Mr. D. RumMachine) for this new album (their third), Vassago and Wolf have laid down thirteen viciously diverse moments of black metal mayhem that should gather some underground appeal. Not only is Finnugor a symphonic laden Black Metal act (with massive emphasis on the keyboard component), but they also employ dark gothic elements and some typically Finnish Folk segments throughout. It’s a pity the music lacks somewhat, but the results, while nothing groundbreaking at all in this style, are commendable. This is more because of the ‘guest vocal’ parts than anything else, yet it could be argued that the musical style of each track is less than predictable at times.

Sound wise, I’m not all that taken with the thin, buried in the mix guitars and drum machine machinations that ‘Darkness Needs Us’ conveys. Needless to say, the dominant elements of this album are easily identified – Keyboards and Vocals. The symphonic key elements are impressive, but personally I’d rather they play a background, atmospheric type role than their more up front ‘riff’ like function they have been given here.

‘Darkness Needs Us’ main interest lies in the vocals. For the record – this is who we get: Track 1: Attila Csihar (ex-Mayhem, Aborym & Tormentor) Track 2: Ville Sorvali (Moonsorrow) Track 3: Frederic Mercier (Dagorlad) Track 6: Peter Meynckens (Axamenta) Track 8: Sture Dingsoyr (Windir) Track 9: Marcus Ehlin (Siebenbürger) Track 11: Christopher B. Wildman (Asgaroth) Track 12: RMS Hreidmarr (Anorexia Nervosa). The rest of the vocal tracks are performed Gabriel Wolf. If you’re a fan of extreme underground black metal then you’ll recognize most of these names. For me, I was disappointed in Attila’s efforts – his more wailing and moaning than actual vocalizing over what was some interesting music was a particular let down. Best efforts included Sture Dingsoyr’s vicious old school rasp on ‘Fire-Raiser of Devastation’, as was the demonic vibes unleashed from Chris B.Wildman on ‘Our Blood is the Ocean’.

Overall, this album is only partly realized in my opinion. It’s diverse and full of extreme black metal wanderings, no question. Yet, much of Finnugor’s music sounds just plain average, the folky parts are annoying and really, its only the ‘guest vocal’ link that provides any sort of longevity to their compositions. If its any consolation, and the music doesn’t inspire, then the accompanying artwork and booklet will provide you with some aesthetic pleasure. On reflection, it’s probably THE best thing about this album.