Sarcofagus - Cycle of Life (1980)^{Release ID: 5062}

Formed in Helsinki in 1977, Finnish heavy metallers Sarcofagus only released two records under that moniker before being forced to change their name due to the Finnish public finding the term to be offensive. The band's third album "Moottorilinnut" was subsequently released under the "Kimmo Kuusniemi Band" moniker in 1982 but it was the band's 1980 debut album "Cycle Of Life" that represented the very first noteworthy metal release to come out of Finland.

The producer clearly had no idea what they were doing as the production job is very unusual & more than a little sloppy. But in saying that, it certainly sounds different. The vocals aren’t very good but the instrumentation is exceptional; particularly the rhythm section which puts in a phenomenal display. The bass work is the highlight of the record for mine even though there also are some really nice jazz/fusion guitar solos on offer too. 

It's not hard to detect a really healthy amount of prog rock influence in the Sarcofagus' sound. In fact, I'd suggest that there's probably enough to claim "Cycle Of Life" as a legitimate progressive metal release although the B side has some more rocky material. It's ultimate downfall is a noticeable lack of focus however as it's a little too ambitious for its own good a lot of the time.

Sarcofagus certainly accomplished something pretty original here as the album doesn’t sound like anything that had been released before but the tracklisting is too inconsistent to make it worth returning to.