Horna – Sanojesi Aarelle
Having been a long time follower of Finland’s Horna, 2005’s “Envaatnags Eflos Solf Esgantaavne” struck me as the pinnacle of this bands creativity in both sound and song forging quality. Every track on that album was memorable in the rocked out grime and blasphemy framework widely known and revered when it comes to Finnish black metal. Since then, Horna continue to unleash albums that all possess a potent strike of ugliness, but none yet have tapped into the charm and strength of “Envaatnags Eflos Solf Esgantaavne”. “Sanojesi Aarelle” certainly isn’t a bad album, for all those Hornaisms are intact from the bands keen knack for writing well paced material where speed is sensibly dispersed, to their own influential strain of woodland filth, not to mention even a few catchy riffs that will stick in your head. The problem for me is that the vibe on “Sanojesi Aarelle” is dedicated to pure, unrelenting hate. Probably not a bad thing in regards to pure black metal, but the more hate you pile on in intention and sound, the more alienating an album can become. Corvus’ vocals are searing to the ear as he pulses agony through his terror throat with little or no inflection to ensure he slaughters us all with his dismay. Quite an impressive and scaring delivery, but it gets a bit redundant as the album progresses. By far, the most memorable track on this album goes to “Katseet”, a mid-paced mood scultper. Finally a morose atmosphere I can wrap my head around before Horna fall back to rally behind their wall of suffering with punishing, out of key riff structures and chaotic blasts. For longtime fans of this band, Horna are to again be applauded for sticking to their unfaltering passion for black metal and never losing vision for the traditional ways of the genre. I guess for me, I’ve found “Sanojesi Aarelle” to be one of those albums I need to be in more of a mood for. It’s bleak brutality I’m sure will translate well to the live forum, but when sitting back, trying to lose myself in an album with atmospheric substance, straight forward and destructive musical nihilism is hard to endure for nearly 90 minutes worth of material (2CD’s). The sharp production adds to this caustic delivery, featuring a clear sound field, but the treble heavy wash of the vocals and standard E tuned guitar tone cuts the listener to the core. –Marty
Moribund Records
Worm Gear 