RUINS

 

In 2009 Corpset decided to release their first album called ‘Ruins’, under the label Violent Journey Records on February 21st 2011 and the band recorded it on their own expenses. During the summer of 2009, the recordings and mixings took place in various facilities and as result there were 10 songs that would form the debut album. Three songs of it to be used in other purposes. If you like to hear them, just head over their Reverbnation page. Here you have the link:

 

https://www.reverbnation.com/corpset

 

The album was recorded during 2009 at Cosmic Studios, Tampere and The Ranch, Lempäälä by Janne Tauriainen and Mikko Mattila.

 

Mixed and mastered at Coal Hole Studios, Hämeenlinna by Janne Tauriainen and Corpset

 

This album got also several appreciations from the music websites like Vertigo.cd, Imperiumi.net, Finnish webzines like Kaaoszine.fi, Desibeli.net and from the website of the French label: fuckTheUnderground.com, by describing it like: ‘ (…) They could be the perfect launching pad band for kids just getting into extreme metal. What I mean by this is that the band are able to construct quality and heavy songs, all the while maintaining a sense of melody with hooks o’ plenty.’

 

 

TRACKLIST :

 

1.The Light Divine

2. Castrate

3. Blair

4. Moment Of Clarity

5. Into The Light

6. Give & Go

7. World Hate Center

8. Behind The Sauna

9. V.P.O.

10. Caesar’s Palace

 

 

The first album it’s a kind of ‘storyteller’. I mean, heading to the art cover of the album, the ancient warrior who rides the lake who surrounds a ruined landscape makes the listener have the feelings of aggression, the ‘in-your-face’ energy.. brutality, plus reminds the Finnish myths.

 

About the lyrics, they’re not the ordinary ones who talk about mysticism or horror sceneries. In fact, they are concerned on the bad feelings and the battle with our own demons of every day and the group shows to us the way how they express it.

 

With ‘The Light Divine’, the opening track of the album, ‘Castrate’, ‘Blair’ and ‘Moment of Clarity’ the prelude of the feelings is now unleashed. Pure Armageddon. On this first part of the album, the growls and the backing vocals captured my attention giving their brutal mark.

 

I really enjoyed this second part. With ‘Into The Light’, the sound of the album turns a bit less eventful, the song is concepted in slow moments and the brutality is more focused on the repeated refrain, typically of the prog metal genre, plus I liked the backing vocals who matched the growls a lot. The parts of bass here enrich more this part of the album.

 

With ‘Give & Go’, ‘World Hate Center’, ‘Behind The Sauna’, ‘V.P.O’ and ‘Caesar’s Palace’ we can notice another change of the sound of the album : the refrains are more easy to remember, plus in my opinion, this last part of the album highlights the solos of the guitars and the part of the drums more, plus the drummer hits the drums so hard!

 

In my opinion, I think that this album encloses its concept into the second and the third part, it’s kind of a ‘whirl of infernal feelings’, which fights against themselves with less or more eventful music. Plus, the band chose to put some history events in it. In fact, there’s a story behind.. ‘Behind The Sauna’, it’s a Finnish way of saying. During the Civil war, soldiers use to take people behind the sauna and shoot them. All we know that the sauna, it’s one of the well known things correlated to Finnish culture inside and outside of Finland and the sauna was always been the place where people used to take decisions, the mothers used giving birth in it.. so the sauna, it’s in this case the ‘take care’ place out of everyone’s sight.

 

 NO REST

 

 

It’s the time for talking about their so-acclaimed second album called ‘No Rest’.

 

It was recorded by Jussi Kulomaa at the MSTR-studios in Tampere in the year 2012. The album has nine tracks and the total running time is 40 minutes. It was released on September 20th 2013.

 

Like I said a while ago, this album got more appreciations and ratings than the first one. To name few, the music magazine Inferno.fi, Desibeli.net, Imperiumi.net, Sue.net, Battlehelm.com and from webzines: Kaooszine, Metal Temple, Destructive Music, Lords of Metal, Voices from the Dark side, Brave words & Bloody Knuckles and Eternal Terror who describes it like: ‘This is meat and potatoes death metal, but now with strong melodic and harmonic nuances- another Finnish band to watch.’

 

But now, what does Fi Musica webzine says about them? Let’s get started!

 

Firstly, I have to stop for a while ‘behind the scenes’ because when I do a review , I like to get-to-know better who plays behind that album, who created and played the album put that ‘magic’ touch and boost the album more.

 

The singer, Antti M. joined in Corpset long time after the two guitarists and the drummer had found each other. They had hard times to find a proper singer and they had played together for about two years, trying out different vocalists. For him, that he hadn’t been a singer for very long time and join in a really skilled metal group was for him kind of a hard battle.

 

His musical influences were born since Antti was really young and his brother and friends were heavily into records of : Kiss, Ozzy O. , Iron Maiden, Metallica. When he was a bit older, he used to listen to some rougher bands like Sepultura and Slayer and at some age he discovered punk and hardcore. Those music genres were the ‘click‘ for Antti. He got from them aggression, energy and- ‘in your face’- mentality, also the punk/hc-culture with their philosophy of ‘anyone can play’ had a great impact to him.

 

The two guitarists, Jari K. and Jami H. and founders of the group have kick-ass music influences too. Since he was a kid, Jari K. has played many instruments. So his scale of music influences are so wide and varied..to name an example, Jari K. likes to play blues/hillibilly style. But for them James Hetfield, Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman are their main inspirations about guitar techniques. About the groups: Carcass, Meshuggah, Destruction, Sodom, Sepultura, Mekong Delta, Yngvie Malmsteen Motorhead and Brian Setzer.

 

About the drummer, Timo H. : Death, Motörhead, Dream Theater, Klamydia. We can see next the lords of thrash/heavy/prog speed/death metal, a Finnish punk rock group. How about the main drummers who he got inspiration from? Gene Hoglan and Mikkey Dee.

 

And about the bass player: Arto T.? He also has highly valid music inspiration. Pantera to name one. Same for : Jaco Pastorius and Billy Sheehan, well known as the lords of the jazz/funky/rhythm and blues/heavy metal/prog rock/hard rock genres.

 

 

TRACKLIST :

 

1. No Rest

2. Piss On My Grave

3. Pitch Black

4. Lord Of The Flies

5. Prophet’s Opiate

6. War Inside

7. You Sin

8. Futile

9. Let The Shit Hit The Fan

 

 

The second album, in my opinion, it’s definitely their masterpiece. I felt it like a ‘Peto Saatanan’ (Satan’s Beast). Once you push the ‘play’ button, you suddenly fall into Hell.

 

With ‘No Rest’, the opening track, ‘Pitch Black’ and ‘Prophet’s Opiate’, ‘Let the Sh*t Hit the Fan’, ‘Lord of the Flies’ and ‘You Sin’, we can appreciate the heavy beat of the drums, the double growling vocals, backing vocals and the core that Antti M. often uses in the whole album. Especially in ‘Prophet’s Opiate’ and ‘Pitch Black’, the bass and the guitar parts have an relevant place on the album, plus the riffs and the repeated solos of the guitars with the use of the wah and vibras.

 

They really channeled the death metal so well and the whole structure and riffs of the album are well done. The band grew up and shown the teeth.

 

’Futile’, ’Piss On My Grave’ and ‘War Inside’ are the most highlight songs of the whole album, who let to the bass and the drums enriching more, as they matched so well with each other. Sometimes some parts of the bass are a bit melodic and anticipates the entering of the drums. The flow and the story of the album, plus Jari K. likes to pick random stuff to different guitar players and made his own self reinventing it, for example wah/vibras.

 

I like their second album so much because I think this characterizes the band more and highlights them more. Plus, very important fact, the guitarists like to bring all the songs and the riffs to the rehearsals, where they put the songs with the rest of the band to use to take lot of time for building up the songs and thinking about the whole concept, the flow and the story of the album, plus Jari K. likes to pick random stuff to different guitar players and made his own self reinventing it, for example wah/vibras. And for me playing on a ’natural inner way’ by only connecting the guitar jack and starting to play (don’t forget that he plays since many years in A.R.G. as well as the drummer Timo H. so they have talent in my opinion) bring to a talented guitarists like Jari K. and Jami H. made really good solos to make you headbang the whole album long than comparing to another guitarist who pre-studied all. Same for the talented bass player Arto T., he chose to simplify his playing and make it happen in the songs. Would you dare telling to him that he’s not brilliant?!

 

At the moment, the band doesn’t do any tour in Finland or abroad to support their albums but they did some shows in their home town, Tampere. Honestly, a band like them really deserve to do some shows outside Finland because they surely are able to produce good death metal music with old groups reverbs like the Death band and in meanwhile be in the tune with the modern metal scene of nowadays. They surely aren’t the product of music business but they’re ‘only’ the product of their passion, talent, and years long music experience. So, I hope to see them soon playing in Finland and…why not in Italy??!