Moonsorrow – Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa

Releasedate: 28-02-2011; Label: Spinefarm
By: Sabine van Gameren

Moonsorrow is a Finnish Black Metal formation that has been formed in 1995. The band is currently up with their sixth full length release “Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa”.

Moonsorrow makes music that includes pagan and that being said, the Finnish lyrics should not be that much of a surprise. On their previous release they brought two tracks of about half an hour each, but on this album short and longer song are there. The album title makes me wonder if Moonsorrow gets tired of their location, as the title says they are moving from the shadows of the dead country. Perhaps a relocation for them brought them to this title.
The albums starts with the darkness, no shining stars on the horizon, “Tähdetön”. It immediately shows what they are up to, a cold, ice cold way of bringing metal. Chills over your spine the metal comes in cold and melodic, not disturbed by too many vocals to get into the mood of the album. Screeching voices come later, when the pagan takes more influence as well. The further you get in the tracklist the more drama comes. We move to “Huuto” meaning ‘cry’. In which the tension takes it up to a higher level. As closer the album comes with “Kuolleille” and “Kuolleiden Maa” (‘The Dead’ and ‘The March of The Dead’) which pretty much says it all.

Their music feels real, they aren’t bringing a matter just for the show but you can feel they put their souls into the music. This makes this album worth to check out. The band had never really convinced me with their live performances, while I ran into them quite often, but this release really does the trick. Therefore I can really say this album made a good impression and is one you will play quite often after getting it in your collection.

Line Up:
Ville Seponpoika Sorvali – Vocals, Bass
Henri ”Trollhorn” Urponpoika Sorvali – Guitars, Clean Vocals, Keyboards
Mitja Harvilahti – Guitars, Vocals
Markus “Lord” Eurén – Keyboards
Marko “Baron” Tarvonen – Drums, Backing Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

Tracklist: 01. Tähdetön 02. Hävitetty 03. Muinaiset 04. Nälkä, väsymys ja epätoivo 05. Huuto 06. Kuolleille 07. Kuolleiden maa

Links:
Moonsorrow Facebook
Moonsorrow Official