June 2021 Feature Release – The North Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us 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 North has been selected by Sonny92. It's 2016's classic fourth album "Värähtelijä" from Finnish psychedelic black metallers Oranssi Pazuzu. I'm really looking forwards to experiencing this one after Oranssi Pazuzu's follow-up record "Mestarin kynsi" topped my 2020 Albums Of The Year list.

https://metal.academy/releases/3875

Ok, so Sonny's ridiculously strong run of June form continues here as "Värähtelijä" is quite frankly another spectacular release from one of the absolute elite performers in modern metal. Oranssi Pazuzu's 2020 album "Mestarin kynsi" absolutely blew my head off & not only topped my end of year list but also made my all-time greatest metal releases chart. Its older sibling takes a very similar approach to that classic release only it's more overtly psychedelic & the black metal component is a touch more significant, even though there's still very little actual black metal in the instrumentation. The grim & gravel-throated vocals are sensational of course. As is the use of tribal beats & repetition to create a truly cerebral experience that's so far up my alley it's not funny. You'll definitely be able to hear the space rock & krautrock influences all over the place here but, as with "Mestarin kynsi", I'm gonna make the bold claim that this is more of a post-metal record than a black metal one & there's very little doubt in my mind that it belongs in The Infinite. A blackened post-metal tag seems like a pretty good fit to me as opposed to the commonly used post-black metal one which indicates that the basis is in black metal which it clearly isn't. Those long atmospheric build-ups, the huge crescendos & the more textured & layered composition all have a lot in common with Swans with the guitars generally adding colour over the powerful basslines rather than playing traditional riffs.

In the end the only reason that I haven't dished out the full five stars here is that the couple of more avant-garde tracks ("Hypnotisoitu viharukous" & "Havuluu") don't offer quite the same sort of next-level appeal that highlights like "Lahja", the title track & the absolutely epic eighteen minute centrepiece "Vasemman käden hierarkia" do but I'll be very surprised if any admirer of extreme art doesn't become enamored with the sheer class & ambition that shine through across the entirety of "Värähtelijä". It's simultaneously gorgeous & lush as well as dark & ominous which is a sure sign of a superior artist.

For fans of Hail Spirit Noir, A Forest Of Stars & Nachtmystium.

4.5/5 

I'm really excited to go back to this one later in the month, I'm pretty familiar with this one but I don't think I've given it ample time after I "got" it the first time. I remember this one being a slow burner, I think I had it at a 3.5 the first few times I checked it out, but then came to my senses and it's sitting at a 4.5 right now. Interesting to see if I still think of it so highly, especially after listening to Mestarin Kynsi so much last year. No surprise and glad you enjoyed this one so much Daniel.

Winner, winner. Chicken dinner.

I can't begin to throw enough superlatives at this record.  The same week that my vinyl copy of Mestarin Kynsi arrived I discover this gem also and will no doubt be testing my bank balance again this month now.

What a tense and intriguing record from start to finish.  Delivered within structures that I find terrifying to listen to personally as they can take very simple effects and use them as conflicting ideals within each song or key passages in each, building this sense of false security all the time which keeps me absolutely hooked.

The review says it all.

5/5

After Mestarin kynsi won pretty much all of the critics 2020 best metal albums award, it was only a matter of time before those of us who caught on to Oranssi Pazuzu late would have to take the deep dive into the bands 2016 album, Värähtelijä. This album was equally as well received, if not more so, by critics at the time and as an outside looking in, I can only imagine why Oranssi Pazuzu were given such a loose second opportunity.

That's not to say that I do not like Värähtelijä, I absolutely do! But I've heard many atmospheric and psychedelic black metal albums in the years since this album was released and can only see it as a stepping stone towards greater things for Oranssi Pazuzu, including Mestarin kynsi!

First and foremost, I see Värähtelijä as an experimental project by comparison to its later sequel being the more refined mending of ideas together. This album contains a similar number of tracks as its follow up, but the tunes feel less impressive. The obvious outlier here is "Vasemman käden hierarkia", which sounds more like an extended jam session rather than a collection of ideas formulated together into something spectacular. At the very least, Ornassi Pazuzu are smart enough to make each of the tracks distinguishable from one another; a problem that many psychedelic albums face. After "Lahja" and the title track leave lots of space for post-rock elements, "Hypnotisoitu viharukous" drastically ramps up the intensity and is further explored on "Havuluu". And ending the album on the relatively laid back "Valveavaruus" gives this record a truly unsettling conclusion to a mostly unsettling project.

And even though the production on this album is very muddy, it does play into its benefit slightly. Psychedelic rock does not need to be riff-centric when it is the wall of sound technique that has been imported from atmospheric black metal that creates the comfortable, yet unsettling environment. I found that the fewer synthetic sounds did not help matters in making this nearly as unsettling as Ornassi Pazuzu may have thought, but these advances were made on later albums, so once again, I feel like this was an experiment for the band to see what would stick and then develop that sound further on subsequent releases.

But in the end, I know why people enjoy this record so much and while it may not be my personal cup of tea, I certainly appreciate its quality. For me, I prefer my atmo-black metal with sweeping melodic phrases and epic hooks and tales of folklore. Bit for an unsettling taste of psychedelic rock meets atmospheric black metal, you can never go wrong with Oranssi Pazuzu, even though I feel Mestarin kynsi is the culmination of this sound.

7/10

P.S. This absolutely needs to be essential listening if you enjoyed this months Infinite featured release: Lucid Planet II.