Swallow the Sun – …And Heavens Cried Blood

Metal 0 Comment

Swallow the Sun‘New Moon’, the fourth album by Swallow the Sun, can easily be considered one of the most outstanding metal albums of the year, and it confirms the band as one of the best of its kind around nowadays. In a little bit over 53 minutes, the Jyväskylä band develops eight long pieces (the shortest of them is above five minutes), based on a murky, but melodic doom metal. It is slow and minimalistic music, rough, but beautiful with the harsh vocals by Mikko Kotamäki responded occasionally by soft female whispers. Even though, this album might be a continuation of the previous works by Swallow the Sun, the songwriting is strong and it really shines on the longest tracks, which create very different atmospheres and textures. ‘New Moon’, which is released this week in the UK and in the USA, also results very easily accessible and so it serves well as an introductory piece to the current tendencies in this genre.

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The Rasmus – October & April

Pop 0 Comment

The RasmusAlthough we usually prefer to look at upcoming bands, we cannot ignore the most successful Finnish pop band of the last ten years, with a few million of albums sold worldwide. The Rasmus, who recently celebrated their 15th anniversary as a band, close the decade with the release of a compilation album with all the singles and a couple of b-sides from the last four albums,that is ‘Best of 2001-2009′, and it includes, of course, the hits F-F-F Falling and In the Shadows. On this collection we can also find a previously unreleased song: the ballad October & April was recorded during the ‘Black Roses’ album sessions and it is a duet with Nightwish’s singer Anette Olzon. It is a genuine cheesy song for the Christmas season.

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Manna – Gimme Water

Indie, Pop 0 Comment

Manna

This autumn singer Manna is living her breakthrough after releasing her second album ‘Songs of Hope and Desire’, which was received with good reviews and followed by cover stories in magazines and a raising interest in the UK. Born in Paris to a Finnish mother and an Algerian father, the singer spent her childhood between France, Finland and Algeria, and now based in Helsinki, she represents an appealing cross-cultural oddity, much needed in the unmixed Finnish landscape. On this new album, Manna puts aside the dreamy pop of her debut, done in collaboration with some of The Soundtrack Of Our Lives guys, and she embraces an uplifting guitar pop with influences of Blondie and The Strokes.

Including the brilliant single Some Girls / Some Boys (once you hear it, you will have to hear it again and again), ‘Songs of Hope and Desire’ is a really strong album with no filler and we had some difficulties choosing a song to post, but in the end we picked up Gimme Water that effectively represents the catchy melodies and the dirty guitar work that are all over the album.

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Children of Bodom – Lookin’ Out My Back Door

Metal, Video 1 Comment

With career that already spans six studio albums, at the age of 30 Children of Bodom lead guitarist and vocalist Alexi Laiho is on his way to become a metal god as he is praised around the as an original composer and talented guitarist. In the meantime, the band just recently released the compilation ‘Skeletons in the Closet’, consisting of old and new cover songs that perhaps should not be taken too seriously and fills the void until the new band’s album drops in. While some of the covers are expected, say Slayer (Silent Scream), Sepultura (Mass Hypnosis), some others are just surprising, say Ramones (Somebody Put Something On My Drink), or plain weird, like Kenny Rogers’ Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In and Britney Spears’ Oops! I Did It Again. Also a version of CCR’s Lookin’ Out My Back Door could be an odd choice for a single, but on the other hand, who has ever written better singles than John Fogerty. Can you say banjo in a metal song? Judge yourself.

Sweet Jeena And Her Sweethearts – Don’t Talk Baby

Rock 0 Comment

Sweet Jeena

Perhaps to compensate the overwhelming heavy metal sounds or just as a consequence of the huge American culture influence and the passion for vintage cars, rockabilly music always received much love in Finland with tattooed pin-up girls and slicked-back hair boys popping up regularly  in the streets and bars. Sweet Jeena And Her Sweethearts go all the way to old time rock’n'roll with their first full-length ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Picnic’ that compiles the sounds that populated the radio waves before 1960. With a sugared voice that hums and whispers as much as sings and scats, Sweet Jeena commands her sweethearts through elegant through summer country ballads, danceable rhythm ‘n’ blues, so check the player to get a taste of it. But if this music sounds too modern, Sweet Jeena also fronts a jazz and swing combo: Sweet Jeena And Her Lazy Lions.

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