Ajattara - Murhat (2011)

Ajattara have been slacking off for years, first with the dispossessed 2007 album Kalmanto and then the folksier, mediocre inclinations of Noitumaa in 2009. With Murhat, they finally return to the form they all but abandoned after 2006's excellent but under appreciated Äpäre, and not a moment to soon. This is an effort full of the groove and bombast that made them such an incredible force through the dawning 21st century, by far the best project Pasi Koskinen (known here as Ruoja) has involved himself in since parting from Amorphis. It's not a complex formula, and that is why it works. Huge, churning guitars below Pasi's hostile native tongue barking, singing the woes of the world and igniting the very fires of hell behind the brows of both modern and ancient man.

The album title translates to 'Murders', and thought if fails to actually murder the listener, it certainly twists a few limbs off so that you'll need to pay a visit to the Emergency Room. The opener "Kunnes taivas meidät erottaa" should not be taken as representative for the album, for while it's not an atrocious song, and manifests a crass and bludgeoning atmosphere, the riffs are not all that interesting, though it's cool to hear Pasi bust out some of those old Amorphis clean vocals like he used on Elegy. After this track, the album picks up considerably, with the eerie "Ihmisen luku" and it's decrepit vocals, which hearken straight back to that delightfully demented 2001-2006 period where this band just shat blood and gold constantly. "H.A.I." is quite original, with a fucked choral intro and huge, dark tribal tones to the central, doomed groove, and then the bouncing mystique of "Aura" and ambient-gone-exotic-bruiser "Sokea liha" offer affirmation that Ajattara are right back where I want them.

It also holds together quite deep into the track list, with personal favorites arriving near the end like "Murheiden kilta" and its swaggering, simplistic brutality, or the driving, slow paced grind of "Apilas" which breaks out these melodic walls that cast titanic shadows over the bass and drums. The finale, "Veljet" uses repeated vocal phrasings to create a mug swinging pandemic in the listener, you want to ball your fist and crush and kill, much like the album title promised. A dark and focused Ajattara is really all I could hope for, and though Murhat isn't able to surpass some of its predecessors in the 32 minutes offered, it's towering production and underpinning evils will hopefully satisfy the band's long term fans who might have been disappointed these past few attempts.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://www.ajattara.fi/

Ajattara - Noitumaa (2009)

When learning that Ajattara's new album was to be an acoustic piece, I was very much expecting a slew of tracks from older albums unplugged. That is not quite what has manifested through Noitumaa.

This is a strange album, and often a little too strange. Acoustics and light percussion form the foundation for the tracks, and over this the vocals are smothered like so much butter on rye bread. At best this becomes a festive affair, as in the raucous "Massat" and the swampy twang of "Kielletyn sanat". More often it's just strange and annoying, like the opening track "Keukhot" with all its vocal foolery, or "Ikuisen aamun Sara" with its death metal riff gone acoustic (which doesn't sound very good) lapsing into a mediocre folk rock tune. At times this album sounds like something Fantomas would do if they were Finnish and using a lot of acoustic guitars...

The album is not a total waste. It's probably on par with their last full-length, Kalmanto, but of course this isn't saying much, since that was a staggering disappointment. There is enough here though to make me wonder: if Ajattara tightened up the writing and vocals, they could probably produce a phenomenal album of unique folk. But Noitumaa feels slightly too experimental for its own health. A few of the tunes work, most do not, and I am left longing for Ajattara to return to those roots that made the first four albums so bloody good.

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

http://www.myspace.com/ajattara

Ajattara - Äpäre (2006)

Ajattara have always reveled in their simplistic method of executing slow to mid-paced black metal with native lyrics, almost folk-like in places without the use of excess acoustics or humppa instrumentation (they DID release an acoustic folk album just this year though). Critical praise for the band has plummeted since their inception, it seems with each new album, as the band becomes marginally more accessible, they turn off another wave fans. I could care less about this myself, but sadly Äpäre was their last output of quality (2007's follow-up Kalmanto is an atrocity against Ukko). Much of the negative critique is misplaced here: despite the cleaner tones and subdued aggression, Äpäre is a powerful effort with some highly memorable fare.

A trance-like synthesizer launches the big grooves of "Hurmasta", Ruoja (Pasi Koskinen) snarling like a wounded man cut open and left to die in the stellar winter. That's right, you never heard him do vocals like these when he was fronting Amorphis. "Raato" creates a simple, depressive doom groove, while keys create a subtle lift to the dark and constant chords of the chorus. "Säälin Koira" is outrageously good, my favorite track of the album for the dark and fretful verse and glorious chorus. Reall, this is all I require out of an Ajattara album. More of this please! "Lautuma" is dark and frothy, like a tavern at midnight, its patrons mostly gone or drunk on the floor, when a maniac with a rusted scythe arrives. Koskinen's vocals once again put the simplicty of the composition over the edge with venomous black poetry. "Eksyneet" escalates its careening acoustic line into a snake-charmer's rhythm of brutal tutelage. "Hirsipuulintu" transforms from dark piano chord into an Amon Amarth-like charger of dark bloodshed. Again, basic and hypnotic riffing, synthesizer presence and dense throat create an unforgettable haunting environment. Of the album's remainder, "Itse" is notable for its slow and creepy crawl, while "Koito" is one of the most atmospheric pieces here.

While some might feel it's too 'clean' to be effective, the production of this record nonetheless maintains the ominous tones required for conquest. I could liken this record to Barathrum playing in a department store but no one would understand. Ajattara simply shares that same sense of bombast and black purity, stripped of its needless excess and delivered right from the gut like an axe to the neck. Äpäre may lack some of the raw tones of its predecessors, but it's equally worthy and stands poised at the height of their discography to date.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.25/10]

http://www.ajattara.fi/