Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Turmion Kätilöt - Reset (2024)
Turmion Kätilöt is an amazing yet strange band of Finnish industrial metal. The lineup consists of talented members with funny stage names; vocalists MC Raaka Pee and Shag-U, guitarist Bobby Undertaker, bassist Master Bates, keyboardist RunQ, and drummer DQ. The lyrics can cover everything from sci-fi to beautiful girls. And the band have been on a roll throughout their tenure that has already reached 20 years! Yet I didn't get turned on by their music until last year.
Standing by in the category of bands that should've been accepted in the Metal Archives but aren't, their disco-fueled industrial metal sound shall please both club dancers and metalheads. Reset brings us back to the Spellgoth era in terms of the quality, not reaching the perfection of the albums afterwards, but still better than Perstechnique.
"Yksi Jumalista" (One of the Gods) begins with an Egyptian-sounding EDM intro before the hammering riffing. The vocals dance around the keyboards and guitars. The chorus maintains both the EDM vibe and that riff. The song is quite a fun bouncer, even with the strange lyrics. "Päästä Irti" (Get Loose) starts off almost deathly, and then it's time to dance again. The catchy energy can really kick things up a notch. D*mn, this can get the metal/dance crowd smiling. The metal guitars fit perfectly with them beats! "Pulssi" (Pulse) sounds a little closer to Mushroomhead at times, but the guitar solo brings it closer to Beast in Black, especially when it's that band's guitarist Kasperi Heikkinen who's performing it. "Sina 2.0" (You 2.0) heads into the electronic side of the band, with some guest vocals by Netta Turunen, daughter of MC Raaka Pee.
"Musta Piste" (Black Dot) brings back the perfect glory of the rest of the Shag-U era, specifically Universal Satan. Same with "Trauma", which has violent bursts of industrial metal to infect the EDM vibes. "Otava" (Big Dipper) once again has a bit of Mushroomhead, while also throwing some Fear Factory, Waltari, and even in the 8-bit synths of HORSE the Band, to make a unique combo. "Se Mitä Et Näe" (What You Don't See) has another brilliant sound from the start, with dark electronic synths that plague the industrial metal sound (in a great way), complete with a Rammstein-ish anthemic chorus. Not much disco, but the heavy riffing and electronics are in great balance.
"Once Dead" is OK, but not that interesting. Ditto with "Puuttuva Naula" (The Missing Nail), which is a little too poppy. It's the weakest song here, though not enough to be a stinker. Following this is "Schlachter" (Butcher), a wonderful remix of the debut's "Teurastaja", featuring Chris Harms of Lord of the Lost. I might just love it more than the original! Finally, we have the 8-minute "Reset 7 (Not to Be Continued)", which has nice dance-y industrial metal, but the Babymetal-like J-pop moments are a bit too much.
Wait a minute... "NOT to Be Continued"?! Is this awesome band going to end after this?!? I sure hope not! Reset has a lot of the band's catchy energy, apart from a couple odd but still good tracks towards the end. The band shall stay alive and continue making even the most serious headbanger dance and smile!
Favorites: "Päästä Irti", "Pulssi", "Musta Piste", "Otava", "Se Mitä Et Näe", "Schlachter"