Review Summary: Havukruunu's most ambitious and most epic output yet. A massive riff-fest.
The Finnish band Havukruunu is one of a kind, and I dare say one of the most exciting bands with black metal roots from that region nowadays. They were well-known for their riff-centered style and they released consistently good albums from the very beginning. In
Uinuos Syömein Sota they managed to level themselves up, blending more and exciting styles into their sound resulting an epic journey with near infinite replay-value.
Bringing together and combining various influences is not an easy thing, but Havukruunu masterfully executed building up their sound. In the simplest terms,
Uinuos Syömein Sota is an adventurous, super fast folkish / viking black metal album. However it has a very power metal-ish side as well, which brings a certain "epic" feeling to the overall picture - for example after the first minute in
"Pohjolan Tytär" the riffs and soloing show high resemblance to power metal in general, but what you can hear is something else, and that's where the magic is: creating something unique.
It is important to mention that
Uinuos Syömein Sota is the band's most folkish album yet, and personally I do believe it is part of the album's success. Most interestingly, this folkish approach could bring certain variety into the whole thing, since at some point it generates those special viking-era Bathory vibes (the opening part in
"Kuin Öinen Meri" for example), but in the other times I sensed some really
Bergtatt-ish vibes - especially hearing the clean choruses in
"Vähiin Päivät Käy" (which is one of the best metal songs of the year, in my humble opinion).
Productionwise, thanks to the great mixing the album has a pleasant sound where the guitars rule over everything - rightfully so, since the guitar work is phenomenal, easily the album's most memorable aspect. Nicely flowing melodies, galopping rhythm leads, fast shredding solos... yeah, I was sold instantly. I'd also highlight the vocals, because I found them exceptionally exciting, which is angry and powerful just as needed, but at other times if the clean choruses step into the spotlight it creates a
very epic feeling, which results epic viking battle hymns. Looking at the album cover art, I could imagine it as a theme-music for an epic fantasy duel between two kings~
Cathartic, gripping and adventurous 'til the end,
Uinuos Syömein Sota is one really astonishing metal album, which proves the band's great song-writing talent and virtuosity.
To Valhalla!
