KALMAH - Swampsong
July 7, 2003, 20 years ago
(Spinefarm/Century Media)
Finland's Kalmah have managed to retain their cool cache through three albums now, the band always the bridesmaids, never the bride, remaining underground and quite beloved. The new one trundles along in demonstration of the deft band's ear for death-vapourizing folk melodies, like Finntroll rifling their Soilwork albums. Pekka Kokko's vocal, however, is a steadfastly extreme one, Kokko exploring that space between "tank empty" old black metal and Swedish death, countered illogically by way too many clear synthesizers tingling like toothpaste above an otherwise unforgiving, almost Sunlight studios beer goggled guitar gurgle. Drop the passÈ keyboards right out of it (and warm up that drum sound) and you've got an album to challenge Dark Tranquillity's unique place in metal.
