FINTROLL

www.fintroll.net

Ur Jordens Diup

Century Media (2007)

www.centurymedia.com

by Sully Payton

 

Fintroll have crawled out of their forest lair with raging hangovers and declared Summer 2007 the summer of humppa-ing. No condoms will be necessary this summer.  All you need is a copy of their new album Ur Jordens Djup (Century Media), a lot of alcohol (beer, mead, a fermented forest concoction) and a saucy wench or dozen and you too can join in the humppa fun.  

Fintroll continue to push the boundaries of metal with their combination of traditional Finnish music (humppa) and black metal.  Sporting new vocalist Vreth, the band have unleashed a surprisingly darker than usual album with some creative twists.  It's an album that could easily be the soundtrack for a fantasy movie.   Opener "Gryning" will immediately transport you out of your living room or car and into some dark Tolkien-esque forest.  It feels like the opening theme to an epic movie.  "Sang" then kicks this creepy movie into gear with Dimmu Borgir-like speed, structure and instrumentation.  Whether intentional or not, the Dimmu theme is clearly evident in the black metal offerings on the record, especially the battle-inspiring "Nedgang" and the brutal "Slaybroder", which feature huge keyboard flourishes, tight double bass drum filling and classic screeched vocals.    When not creeping the metal wenches out with blackness, Finntroll also write songs that allow them to dance with them.  "Ur Djupet", "Korpens Saga" and "Maktens Spira" seamlessly intertwine traditional instrumentation and rhythms with brutal guitar work of Routa and Skrymer.  Think of it as speed polka.  

Ur Jordens Djup is, dare I say, a fun black metal record.  There's no mopey, corpse painted freaks to be found on this record.  It's a black metal record that will make you want to hoist a pint of something (provided you are of age of course) and keep drinking until the record is over.  The only drawback is that you can't sing along to these ditties unless you are a native Finn. I suspect that if you slur along with Finntroll, you'll come pretty close to what they're growling about on this record. 
 

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