FINNUGOR „Darkness Needs Us”

Music: Symphonic Black Metal
Duration: 67.11 (13 songs)


Cool songs: Fire-Raiser of Devastation, Our Blood Is the Ocean, Lord of the Darkest Freedom, Wings of Kryy.
Website: www.finnugor.cjb.net

Fans of dark, gothic tinged, symphonic black metal better take notice here. As a collaborative effort between one Godslayer N. Vassago (who resides in Finland) and Gabriel Wolf (who lives in Hungary), Finnugor is one of the more ridiculously demented Black Metal bands around today.

Enlisting no less than ten guest vocals (as well as Mr. D. RumMachine) for this new album (their third), Vassago and Wolf have laid down thirteen viciously diverse moments of black metal mayhem that should gather some underground appeal. Not only is Finnugor a symphonic laden Black Metal act (with massive emphasis on the keyboard component), but they also employ dark gothic elements and some typically Finnish Folk segments throughout. It’s a pity the music lacks somewhat, but the results, while nothing groundbreaking at all in this style, are commendable. This is more because of the ‘guest vocal’ parts than anything else, yet it could be argued that the musical style of each track is less than predictable at times.

Sound wise, I’m not all that taken with the thin, buried in the mix guitars and drum machine machinations that ‘Darkness Needs Us’ conveys. Needless to say, the dominant elements of this album are easily identified – Keyboards and Vocals. The symphonic key elements are impressive, but personally I’d rather they play a background, atmospheric type role than their more up front ‘riff’ like function they have been given here.

‘Darkness Needs Us’ main interest lies in the vocals. For the record – this is who we get: Track 1: Attila Csihar (ex-Mayhem, Aborym & Tormentor) Track 2: Ville Sorvali (Moonsorrow) Track 3: Frederic Mercier (Dagorlad) Track 6: Peter Meynckens (Axamenta) Track 8: Sture Dingsoyr (Windir) Track 9: Marcus Ehlin (Siebenbürger) Track 11: Christopher B. Wildman (Asgaroth) Track 12: RMS Hreidmarr (Anorexia Nervosa). The rest of the vocal tracks are performed Gabriel Wolf. If you’re a fan of extreme underground black metal then you’ll recognize most of these names. For me, I was disappointed in Attila’s efforts – his more wailing and moaning than actual vocalizing over what was some interesting music was a particular let down. Best efforts included Sture Dingsoyr’s vicious old school rasp on ‘Fire-Raiser of Devastation’, as was the demonic vibes unleashed from Chris B.Wildman on ‘Our Blood is the Ocean’.

Overall, this album is only partly realized in my opinion. It’s diverse and full of extreme black metal wanderings, no question. Yet, much of Finnugor’s music sounds just plain average, the folky parts are annoying and really, its only the ‘guest vocal’ link that provides any sort of longevity to their compositions. If its any consolation, and the music doesn’t inspire, then the accompanying artwork and booklet will provide you with some aesthetic pleasure. On reflection, it’s probably THE best thing about this album.

note: 6.0/10

Tracklist

01. Darkness Needs Us
02. Lord of the Darkest Freedom
03. Hand of Light
04. Vigour of Light
05. Wings of Kryy
06. Bearer of Moonlight Decay
07. Lycanthropic Warmasters
08. Fire-Raiser of Devastation
09. We Came Back with the Nightfall
10. Mortal Reality
11. Our Blood Is the Ocean
12. Forest of Bane
13. Wings of Kryy [Subtracted Blast Mix]