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Horna - Vihan Tiellä review



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Band: Horna
Album: Vihan Tiellä
Style: Black metal
Release date: December 2009


01. Vihan Tie
02. Musta Temppeli
03. Verta Koirille
04. Kuoleva Lupaus
05. Mustasiipinen
06. Raiskattu Saastaisessa Valossa
07. Näkyjen Tuhkasta
08. Sieluhaaska
09. Verikammari
10. Marraskuussa
11. Örkkivuorilta

Horna. I have to admit, Horna's a band I've always avoided. Maybe I listened to them a couple of years ago and discarded them back then, or maybe I never even gave them a try - I'm honestly not sure. Fact is: with their entire image of kvlt Black metal band I always felt that there were more interesting bands around to devote my time to. Good thing is that, with such a prolific band, the moment a label decides to send me some of their work is pretty much inevitable. So, first official and logged encounter with the Finnish Horna - their second live album Vihan Tiellä.

And as expected, Vihan Tiellä opens up with a rabid shriek and a furious razorblade riff. Then it storms off in what I expect to be standard Horna-fashion: speed, distortion and rage. It's all there, the wolf-ripped-to-shreds-type of screams, the fast drums and the dissonant and occasionally briefly catchy riffs... but what I find odd, is that it doesn't sound like a live album at all. There's hardly any noise from the crowd and although the sound is raw, it's well-balanced. Well, the drums occasionally swerve a bit over the place, but still much better than you'd expect from a live Black metal band. Odd. If it wouldn't be written in the liner notes in the booklet, I probably wouldn't have guessed it at all.

So what's my conclusion? I'm not really sure myself. For the average Horna, this album would be good as a 'best of' (assuming they play their best songs live) with all songs in a very lively/organic production. All non-Horna fans, and that includes me, should ask themselves: do I really need another raw, ravaging, technically apt Black metal band. closely following the guidelines of the Second Wave? Your call, but I'll tell you I don't need that at all.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 7
Originality: 6
Production: 8





Written on 03.04.2010 by If you're interested in extreme, often emotional and underground music, check out my reviews. I retired from reviewing, but I really used to be into that stuff.


Comments

Comments: 1   Visited by: 71 users
24.06.2010 - 03:26
Bitter Dawn
Ave Sathanas!
Hm, I never thought about it for some reason but you're right Lucas, where is the live audience? Unless the audience was edited out before the start and after the end of each track since it was mastered a year after in Helsinki, who knows.
For any Horna fan this is a great listen, as Lucas presumed this is more or less like a "best of" compilation with some really solid tracks, of which the vocals are preformed by Corvus.
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