Album Reviews : Verjnuarmu – Ruatokansan Uamunkoetto

Savo Metal they claim, yet another sub-genre in the world that is metal, however this one is unique and yet not to Finland’s Verjnuarmu. The genre is a self created one named after the language the band sings in – Savonian, a Finnish dialect spoken in Eastern Finland. However, when you cut through the marketing of the band, Verjnuarmu play nothing more than Melodic Death Metal albeit with hints of the delightful Folk Metal sound, yet also a sense of a doomy overtone throughout the album – not as exotic as ‘Savo Metal’ might have you believe.

There are some tracks on this album I find quite enjoyable. ‘Kuu Paestaa, Kuollu Ajjaa’ and ‘Mustan Virran Silta’ both have catchy hooks, and the production of the album overall is quite good. However, without hearing any of the bands previous release, it feels like they have seen the growth in popularity of Turisas and have said “that’s going to be us”.

It’s not a bad effort at capturing a similar feeling to Turisas or bands such as Ensiferum etc; however I think the one main area where the band has failed to make any great impression on me is that rarely do songs reach a climactic moment. It feels as if most song’s just continue on their ‘Sunday drive’ as opposed to being in the moshpit moment! A lack of catchy chorus’ that stick in your head like a Eurovision track – as per standard in this melodic death/folk genre – could well improve this release. Maybe they went too hard on the idea of a doomy influence.

I’ll be interested to see how the band progresses from this album. I think the potential is there, however not realised as yet. 5/10

For fans of: Turisas, Shaman, Ancient Rites, Falchion

Band: Verjnuarmu
Album: Ruatokansan Uamunkoetto
Year: 2008
Genre: Folk/Battle Metal
Label: Dynamic Arts Records
Origin: Finland
http://www.myspace.com/verjnuarmu

Track Listing:
1. Tulesta Pimmeyven
2. Kuu Paestaa, Kuollu Ajjaa
3. Mustan Virran Silta (Reviewers Choice)
4. Luita Ja Hampaeta
5. Surmatun Säkkeet
6. Huaskalinnut
7. Kuhtumattomat Vieraat
8. Kirkkomuan Kansoo
9. Räähähenki
10. Kalamavesj’