Band:	Vainaja
Album:	Kadotetut
Style:	Death doom metal
Release date:	May 2014

01. Lankeemus
02. Väärän Ristin Valtakunta
03. Kahleiden Kantaja
04. Valon Lapset
05. Henkikaste
06. Verinen Lähde
07. Risti Kädessäni
08. Viimeinen Tuomio
09. Kadotettu

In case you've been living under a rock, within the past decade, "Finland" and "doom metal" seem to have almost become synonyms for each other. From the funereal howlings of bands like Tyranny and Wormphlegm, to the more bizarre projects like Aarni and Dark Buddha Rising, the country has become notorious lately for sonorous doom echoes from beyond the void of time. Sometimes these echoes can be impressive, and at other times dismissible. This year, Vainaja sit more towards the latter, with a few small sprinkles of the former.

Kadotetut sees Vainaja playing a relatively basic death doom style, well delivered, but honestly not very original. The tempo stays in a pretty moderate pacing for the majority of the album, only really picking up for a bit of a more extreme feeling on "Valon Lapset" and "Risti Kädessäni." While there are some catchy riffs and grooves going on throughout the album, ultimately they fail to build to any sort of a memorable type of climax, and sometimes feel as though they're there just for the sake of being there.

Negatives aside, what is interesting and original about Kadotetut (or at least slightly so) is the creative concept behind it. According to the band's Facebook page, it revolves around traditional Finnish rumors of a 19th century rural cult that spread chaos in the country among practitioners of older religions: sacrificing them, burying them alive, and other wacky shit. Vainaja take towards enhancing this horrific theme musically with some darkly melodic and ambient undercurrents, particularly on "Henkikaste," as well as both the opening and closing tracks. While this technique is effective, it feels greatly underdeveloped, and probably would have served the album a lot better had it been interwoven with the other, more death doom-oriented tracks, instead of simply standing alone by itself.

At the end of the day, though Vainaja's debut album has good songwriting, and a pretty cool lyrical idea at its heart, it lacks that sort of strong dynamic needed to connect to the listener on an intense, personal level. There is variety among the 9 tracks, but somehow not enough, and they can at many points feel as though they simply all blend together. For people who like a strong sense of cohesion to their music, this may be a plus, but to those who like a blend of multiple influences, it could be disappointing. Of the three Finnish death doom albums I've heard this year (the other two being from Kuolemanlaakso and Altar Of Betelgeuze), Kadotetut is easily the most forgettable. But all that said, it does show signs of room for improvement, and while I'm not overly impressed with Vainaja this time around, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on them.

Maybe you'll enjoy it?