Itse

Itse (meaning roughly to refer to yourself) is indeed the debut album from Finnish band Ajattara, which for the trivia buffs is an evil god of the forest in Finnish mythology (for extra points the female form of that deity is Ajattar). Formed by former Amorphis vocalist Pasi Koskinen (going under the pseudonym Ruoja) around 1996, it was around 2001 where the album saw the light. Ever been walking through a Finnish, sinister looking forest on your own at night, with thousands of nocturnal creature's eyes peering at you beyond the gloom? No, me neither, but if I was, Itse would be the quintessential soundtrack to that activity. This album, if nothing else, is just pure evil in its entirety. Slight repetitiveness, same chords used over and over again, very un-melodic...yes it's all there, but at the same time I see this album kinda like a soundtrack, something that's not too strong on its own, but the imagery it produces and the soundscapes produced by the haunting keyboards really are something to take note of.

Ruoja's vocals are something out of a nightmare, truly the most evil and sinister I've ever heard. "But what about those Norwegian black metal guys?!" I hear screamed at me. No, those guys sound stupid, something like a mix of a kettle coming to the boil and a cat screeching. Ruoja sounds like he doesn't even have to try, he doesn't have to wear silly makeup and spikes to appear evil, he just oozes the stuff. Sung entirely in Finnish gives that aspect a great boost. Obviously I don't speak Finnish, but the words sung are decipherable, something I applaud with death growls, being able to sing like that and still understand the words is not something everyone can do, but Ruoja does it extremely well. There are the odd clean vocal passages here and there, which I think if used a lot more could have made the album slightly better.
Now the music. Something like a mix of black metal mixed with doom could be the best description of Ajattara. Basically all the songs are 3-5 minute, simple but effective metal tunes. The songs themselves don't have too much variety in them, but that in itself just works. The tracks might just be good ol' downtuned, simple metal songs, but that shouldn't suggest they aren't good. Ajattara know what they are and they deliver them with great conviction. Take the keyboards out of the picture and your left with not much, such is the role of the keyboards within the music. The album doesn't rely on them, but they provide such spine chilling notes and melodies that the "evil" factor is boosted ten fold.

Not really much point in describing the songs (no it's not me being lazy) because they all have a similar sound and structure to them, although the last track is more of an outro. Some might be put off by the repetitiveness of the entire album but I dunno, somehow it just works. All that and a fantastic album cover by Dark Tranquillity's guitarist Niklas Sundin, which couldn't sum up the album's feelings any more. Looking for something which is nothing more than pure evil, minimalist, dark metal? Then look no further.

This is where Ajattara introduced their sound and style to the world. It’s mainly revolving around slowly played melodic black metal, which they’ve learned how to control over these years. Yes, they’ve evolved since this release, some may think to the better, but I certainly prefer the older Ajattara releases. Back in these days, they showed us quality from the beginning.

This album is packed with chilling, slow music which to some extent craves to impress its listener as Ajattara’s style was new, interesting and came as a positive surprise when the members other projects were taken into consideration. This wasn’t new only for the audience, but for the performers as well, yet they knew instantly how to handle it. The riffs are crunching, bone-breaking chunks crammed together into a big mush of heavy sounding music. Where the music really flows though, is when all instruments make a fusion, and just let rip. A good example of this is in “Verivalta”, which sounds as if it would’ve been composed in a different session than the rest of the songs. Introducing Ruoja (Pasi Koskinen from Amorphis) on vocals, Ajattara is mainly considered his project. Sadly, his vocal performance, while executed stylistically, is a little bit out of place here and there on this release. The vocal tone and his shrieks / growls are in fact very suitable, but if the arrangement could have been figured out in a more artistic way, the whole experience surely would’ve benefited from it. Of course, there are exceptions to this as well, and the issue I just brought up isn’t a major one. When thinking about the negative aspects of “Itse”, the little variation in song material comes to mind. I like slow black metal, but it would’ve been nice if the ultra-slow, almost doom-like arrangements could have been altered every once in a while. The variation that can be found is notable (for example) in the song Ägräs, where a clean string of voice suddenly takes over the whole song and a beautiful melody makes an appearance. That I can call experimental, as it’s not designed to fit in with the rest of the song, which when bands make such things work, I really appreciate it.

Seeing as it was their debut and everything, these side-steps can pass as a minor flaw in my book as well. It’s just that when I calculate these minor mistakes and flaws together, the whole album transforms from a splendid release to an almost mediocre one. There’s still much that impresses the listener, and if you like this type of music, you shouldn’t miss out on “Itse”. There’s the essential tracks (Ägräs, Verivalta) and the really ugly ones (Tulessa, Rajan Takaa), so variation is found too. Just give it a listen, maybe it’s your thing after all.

Great debut full album by Pasi Kokinen's side project Ajattara. This is where they started their mid-tempo heavy, dark/haunting metal music with black/death extreme vocals and well placed keyboard synths. The lyrics are also in Finnish but I doubt many are too interested in what he is saying anyways. Contains a few clean vocal passages but doesn't affect the album very much. They manage to create dark, extreme songs without the speed of death/black metal but equally dark and evil yet somewhat catchy because of the tempo of the music. The different elements make this album unique, the extreme vocals not being used in a doomier or too aggressive style of music. Not very much else to say, simplistic song structures, not really guitar solo's or any standout instruments and somewhat repetitive. Similar to their next album in which I felt they slightly improved in most aspects except that this is the album that spawned this new sound for Ajattara so it deserves points for that. It is still a very respectable debut and although not necessarily worth purchasing immediately, it is worthy of recommendation for one seeking simple, dark metal with a tad of BM influence.

Favorite tracks : Yhdeks, Kuolevan Rukous, Manan Lapset

Black/Doom? Death/Black? It is hard to catagorize Ajattara, they are a refreshing 'dark metal' sound. While not overly complicated (actually mostly simple) songs, they are all spectacular, and very catchy without being even the least bit comercial. Intense, almost groovy riffs, well-placed unearthly keyboards, and the vocals, oh my the vocals. Pasi Koskinen's vocals have never sounded better. Kickass death/black metal vocals. Interesting that he takes on the moniker of Ruoja, rather than himself, perhaps to try and eliminate any expectations you might have of his other work. All the songs are no longer than 5 minutes, and not one of them is a dud. Amazing album here, if you havent heard it before, go get this.

Standout track: Kuolevan Rukous