December 2020 Feature Release - The Infinite Edition
It's now December which of course means that we'll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we're asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We're really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don't be shy.
This month's feature release for The Infinite is one of this year's biggest underground metal releases in the fifth album "Mestarin kynsi" from unusual Finnish avant-garde black metal outfit Oranssi Pazuzu. I've inexplicably skipped the last couple of Oranssi Pazuzu releases but they seem to have catapulted the band into elite territory & the idea of a psychedelic brand of extreme metal offers great appeal to me so I'll be very interested to see what I make of this one.
https://metal.academy/releases/19422
Haven't you heard Värähtelijä either Daniel? Damn, get on that one soon as you can, it was my AOTY for 2016.
No I'm afraid I haven't as I was spending most of my time preparing for the Metal Academy podcast recordings by revisiting the earlier metal releases at that stage from memory. Really looking forward to this one.
What a wonderful fucking experience that was!! I'm utterly floored by "Mestarin Kynsi" & have no hesitation in claiming it as my album of the year. Here's my full (& uncharacteristically gushing) review:
https://metal.academy/reviews/19505/19422
5/5
I can't help thinking that if one black metal band can break out of the scene and gain some kind of mainstream acclaim, then it is going to be Oranssi Pazuzu. I believe the avant-garde tag for this release is grossly misleading and I would argue that rather, this is true progressive music (be it metal or not) that is born of minds similar to true visionaries of the progressive rock era like Robert Fripp and Peter Hammil, but with all the armoury of modern music-making at their disposal. I understand why you would want to tag this as post-metal, but personally when I think of post-metal I think of somewhat passive music and this is anything but passive.
A lot of shit is talked about a lot of bands being original in metal when, let's be brutally honest here, they really aren't that much, but in OP's case this is a true statement. This, along with 2016's Värähtelijä and the Waste of Space Orchestra collaboration with Dark Buddha Rising, are three of the finest, most original albums to emerge from the metal scene in the past decade and should already have cemented the band's legendary status.
I understand why you would want to tag this as post-metal, but personally when I think of post-metal I think of somewhat passive music and this is anything but passive.
Interesting. I actually don't think of post-metal as passive necessarily. Sure, there are some examples that fit that label but to me post-metal is more about the use of texture & repetition over the more traditional riff-based metal approach & the subtle building of tension over time, often with remarkably huge results. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one because I think this is a fine example of post-metal.
I'm also interested to know, do you hear any black metal in this album other than the vocals?
A direct quote from my review of some months ago - "In fact, I hear very little black metal on here other than in the vocals. " So I absolutely agree with you on this one Daniel. The question then is, does only having a vocal relationship with black metal constitute a strong enough case for inclusion in the North. When I refer to them as a black metal band, I do so in the same way I would refer to Enslaved, as a band that has developed from black metal beginnings that still retain a vestigial link back to their origins. In both band's cases I think it is also fair to say that even in the early days they were already stretching beyond the genre's confines.
Something I did refer to in my review that I would like an opinion on is that I believe this album exhibits a huge influence from UK space rock pioneers Hawkwind. I don't know how familiar you are with them, but listen to Choose Your Masques from 1982 and then Uusi Teknokratica and tell me there's no relationship. Also the driving rhythms overlaid by electronics is classic Hawkwind.
A direct quote from my review of some months ago - "In fact, I hear very little black metal on here other than in the vocals. " So I absolutely agree with you on this one Daniel. The question then is, does only having a vocal relationship with black metal constitute a strong enough case for inclusion in the North. When I refer to them as a black metal band, I do so in the same way I would refer to Enslaved, as a band that has developed from black metal beginnings that still retain a vestigial link back to their origins. In both band's cases I think it is also fair to say that even in the early days they were already stretching beyond the genre's confines.
Enslaved is in The North for their first 5 releases (including Hordanes Land), both The Infinite and The North in their next 5, and The Infinite in all subsequent releases. Makes sense because of their origins as a black metal, transition to a more progressive sound, and progressive metal with (same as your quote) "very little black metal on here other than in the vocals." Those recent albums are why I started listening to that band that I probably wouldn't around 5 years ago but I've gained more leeway. I also agree with even their earlier black metal albums stretching beyond bounds, including over-10-minute songs and Scandinavian Norse lyrics that, unlike other black metal bands, never mention Satan. With that, I think Enslaved is a great band for anyone who enjoys non-satanic extreme progressive metal. Who needs the Devil when you have Enslaved!?
A direct quote from my review of some months ago - "In fact, I hear very little black metal on here other than in the vocals. " So I absolutely agree with you on this one Daniel. The question then is, does only having a vocal relationship with black metal constitute a strong enough case for inclusion in the North. When I refer to them as a black metal band, I do so in the same way I would refer to Enslaved, as a band that has developed from black metal beginnings that still retain a vestigial link back to their origins. In both band's cases I think it is also fair to say that even in the early days they were already stretching beyond the genre's confines.
Something I did refer to in my review that I would like an opinion on is that I believe this album exhibits a huge influence from UK space rock pioneers Hawkwind. I don't know how familiar you are with them, but listen to Choose Your Masques from 1982 and then Uusi Teknokratica and tell me there's no relationship. Also the driving rhythms overlaid by electronics is classic Hawkwind.
Glad you agree with me about the black metal component. Having cleared that up though, I think the vocals alone are justification for a black metal primary here simply because they're on the more extreme end of the black metal spectrum i.e. they're so blatantly black metal.
I'm familiar with Hawkwind but have spent a lot more time with their early 70's releases than their later material. I think the reference is justified as an influence though. Well spotted.
I agree with you Daniel that the vocals alone merit a place in The North, I merely posed the question to see what others thought. It is probably an album that is at the very limit of what could rightly be included that clan though (along with a number of doom metal bands that utilise black metal vocals, but have few other BM influences).
I must also defer to you on what constitutes post-metal, as it is a genre I have only recently become acquainted with to any degree. I do enjoy some of it very much, but that I have listened to kind of reminds me of 70's progressive electronic music in that it's soundscapes feel quite passive and engender atmospheres to sink into rather than actively engage with. (I'm probably not expressing what I'm trying to say very well here, but as I say, my experience with the genre is limited and I defer to those with more expertise on the subject).
As an Oranssi Pazuzu noob going into the bands most recent record, I can wholeheartedly agree with the assessment that in terms of what defines a metal as "black metal", this is one of the farthest from the genres roots. But I would argue that the harmonic and melodic passages from the guitars do have much in common, even if these tropes are used in unique ways. The shrieking vocals are also very inline with what one would expect from this genre. Whether or not one agrees that this is enough to quantify its classification as a black metal record is in the eye of the beholder.
I see a lot of similarities between Mestarin kynsi and Written in Waters by Ved Buens Ende..... It is music that has clear influences in black metal, but is so far removed from what that genre entails that classification is seemingly impossible. Whether that constitutes this record as progressive or avant-garde is irrelevant (personally, I believe these two tags are interchangeable). I respect this record for pushing boundaries as far as it did, and you know what? It even produced a great song in the process (Oikeamielisten sali). But like with most "alien" progressive records, the production takes the reigns in creating a claustrophobic atmosphere a fair bit too often for my liking, instead of off the floor dissonance or obscurity.
7/10