Atomikylä - Erkale review
| Band: | Atomikylä |
| Album: | Erkale |
| Style: | Drone, Psychedelic doom metal |
| Release date: | October 2014 |
01. Alkuaineet
02. Erkale
03. Ihmiskallo
04. Who Goes There?
05. Musta Kulta
Perhaps it was inevitable. Both bands are major psychedelic innovators. Both of them were selected to play at Roadburn Festival in 2012. And both of them heavily promoted each other's most recent albums. Now, this level of brotherhood between Oranssi Pazuzu and Dark Buddha Rising has reached a new level, with a full blown collaborative project spawning in the form of Atomikylä. Strap on your oxygen tanks, comrades, for this is one that can wreck even the most seasoned of psychonauts if they're not careful.
Erkale is just about everything you could expect from a collaboration between these Finnish sonic titans: essentially the groovy psychedelia of Oranssi Pazuzu combined with the more trancelike, monotonous nature of Dark Buddha Rising. To say this music is a head trip would be an understatement. Right away, with the massive opener "Alkuaineet," we're plunged into an ethereal world of drony basslines, swirling guitar sounds, and a very nice variety between pounding, rhythmic elements and more relaxed, trippy sections, as can be seen towards the track's middle. The black metal personality of Oranssi Pazuzu is largely absent here, except for the vocal delivery, which, even when it does pop up, is still largely underdeveloped in comparison to the instrumentation at large. Quite frankly, it's nothing short of commendable that Oranssi can detach themselves from their black metal side here and still be felt in the overall mix of the collaboration. In some ways, this "music > vocals" formula feels more like an ode to classic psychedelic rock than anything else, where the vocal delivery was very limited and musicians tended to let their playing do the talking more than anything else. Accentuating this feeling even farther is the (pleasantly surprising!) use of Hammond organ on "Ihmiskallo." Recreating the Summer Of Love and memories of Country Joe & The Fish, both Oranssi Pazuzu and Dark Buddha Rising have no qualms whatsoever about paying tribute to the origins of their sound, and this occasionally timeless feel that creeps into the music only helps to make it more powerful.
Production-wise, Erkale is near flawless. Take two bands who are masters at nailing the "cosmic vacuum" sort of sound typically attributed to this style, and you're in for one hell of a listening experience, which is nothing short of the case here. If you're a steady follower of both bands, you'll no doubt have a fun time seeing how each of their latest approaches to this technique have crept into the mix here. "Who Goes There?," perhaps the standout of the collaboration, is likely the finest example. Quite drony and employing of the "wall of sound" technique, this track at first seems to be sitting mostly in Dark Buddha Rising territory. However, midway through it, when you begin to encounter that free-flowing guitar style that just lulls you into a sort of narcotic haze, you know you're grooving with Oranssi Pazuzu. This sense of seamlessness between the two bands' deliveries is exactly how a collaboration should be properly conducted, with little to no sense of which band is dominating the composition, and the fact that Orannsi Pazuzu and Dark Buddha Rising hit this nail right on the head with Erkale helps to make it one of (if not the) most enjoyable collaborations of 2014.
In short, Finnish metal has been proving itself to have a growing inclination towards the dreamlike and the bizarre in recent years, and Oranssi Pazuzu and Dark Buddha Rising have consistently demonstrated themselves to quite likely be the unofficial leaders of this recent trend. A joint effort between the bands was bound to happen in time, and the results of it are nothing short of mindblowing. Each of these bands have a curious way of sneaking up on you out of nowhere with their releases, and Erkale for me was no exception. It has made my day today, is one of the best psychedelic albums I have heard all year, and will quite possibly be getting my vote for Biggest Surprise in this year's Metalstorm Awards (I'm standing alone again, I know). Play this one loud and detach yourselves from reality.
"Musta Kulta and "Ihmiskallo" are both currently streaming on Soundcloud. Finding the rest of this big ball of glorious, I leave to you all.
 | Written on 26.10.2014 by Metal Storm’s own Babalao. Comforting the disturbed and disturbing the comfortable since 2013. |
Comments
Comments: 28
Visited by: 191 users
| Zap Guest Posts: 3516  |
Well, that was quick... Made me really curious though, will check it out.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5934 From: USA  |
Written by Zap on 26.10.2014 at 03:09 Two of my absolute favorite bands man, I take no prisoners 
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5934 From: USA |
Written by Guest on 26.10.2014 at 03:31 Yeah, good luck finding the album in full, but if you're committed to doing so, you will. They should really just put the whole damn thing on a Bandcamp or something, but I assure you, the rest is just as good as those two tracks.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Chobo_jokeR Posts: 427 From: Canada  |
Its streaming on a Finnish website, if you go to their Facebook page, but my stupid sound cloud won't load all the way, so I can't listen to the full album.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5934 From: USA |
Written by Chobo_jokeR on 26.10.2014 at 03:38 Yeah, right here, thanks for the note
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| mz Posts: 4773  |
Not a fan of OP, but I'd for sure check this.
---- Giving my ears a rest from music.
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| Maratha Posts: 63 From: India  |
No wonder. I knew only your review could give this collaboration the justice it deserves. I'm mesmerised. Clap Clap.
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| Maratha Posts: 63 From: India |
The artwork is quite mysterious in the sense it shows the skull of a person having a third eye on the forehead, or maybe he was shot with a shotgun.
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| Alex F Slick Dick Rick Posts: 3502 From: USA  |
Damn boy you reviewed this FAST. Listening to the full thing now, I fuckin love it.
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by Maratha on 26.10.2014 at 11:48 Damn, if you could pull that off with a shotgun and not have your entire skull blown to bits then that would be impressive indeed  To me it looks like it could be the result of trepanning.
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| Ilham Giant robot Posts: 5161 From: Canada  |
Written by Guest on 26.10.2014 at 16:32 Trepanations were usually performed on the top of the skull, not in the forehead. With trepans not wider than a couple of centimetres. Edit: I do not collect weird obsolete medical knowledge. I just read a book in which people got murdered like that.
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| Ilham Giant robot Posts: 5161 From: Canada |
Written by Guest on 26.10.2014 at 16:55 Christ I had no idea there was another purpose than the medical one, and certainly didn't imagine there were doctors doing that just thirty years ago. I always thought the third eye thing was metaphorical, not that they actually drilled holes in people's heads to get high. So when I saw the cover I just though "oh cute a third eye for a psychedelic album how cutesy and adorable", not "ew ew ew trepanation". God humans are stupid. But yeah I should listen to it as well.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5934 From: USA |
Written by Maratha on 26.10.2014 at 11:45 Hehe thank you, thank you 
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5934 From: USA |
Written by Ilham on 26.10.2014 at 16:48  But no, seriously,  Don't make me get Marcel over here.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Discussing the album art and what it may be seems pretty on topic to me  especially when it's an interesting subject.
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| Ilham Giant robot Posts: 5161 From: Canada |
Written by Guest on 26.10.2014 at 17:17 Yeah I've studied body art, body mods (as very influential in art - see ORLAN) and the origins of that it in the tribes in godforsaken places in the Amazon or Africa. I am able to understand and theorise on such procedures because I can distance myself from it. I guess we missed the cutesy trepanation for "alternative" purposes. But my primary reaction - if I am not able to hide it - always was and always will be "ew ew ew". Thus. I'm not clicking that link. Yes this is on topic, sorry I am not one to usually contest that, but it's all got to do with the cover.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5934 From: USA |
Written by Guest on 26.10.2014 at 17:25 Ok, well here's my theory. The skull is the band's depiction of a well-documented and well-researched primitive smoking device/sex toy that existed during the Stone Age. You see, the man would stick his bad boy through the third eye hole for pleasure, and then stick his maryjewanna into one of the other eye holes, light it, use the remaining eye hole as a carb, and inhale through the nose. All. At. The. Same. Time.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5934 From: USA |
Written by Guest on 26.10.2014 at 17:33 Don't blame the bottle mate, Atomikyla are simply beyond the comprehension of mere mortals.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Alex F Slick Dick Rick Posts: 3502 From: USA |
Written by Auntie Sahar on 26.10.2014 at 17:29 Yes. Wait. Ok. ....what....yes. This is what I will tell anyone who asks now
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5934 From: USA |
Written by Alex F on 26.10.2014 at 17:35 You better. The last thing we want to do is give out fellow guests misinformation with such silly and unfounded theories of "trepanning"
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Ilham Giant robot Posts: 5161 From: Canada |
Written by Guest on 26.10.2014 at 21:21 Cyclops has only one eye.
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| mz Posts: 4773 |
On topic: I had seen this cover before today but don't remember where. Also, not heard the music yet 
---- Giving my ears a rest from music.
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