Review by Stephen Pedicino
From the glacial lands of enchantment emerges yet another offering from the seemingly rampant Korpiklaani (Finnish for “forest clan”). With the release of 6 albums in 7 years, they show no signs of slowing down or changing who they are musically. Shall we expect any surprises from these Finns?
After tearing myself away from the peculiar cover of a log-riding man with deer antlers, I managed to get the CD into my stereo. It ignited with a jagged riff and didn’t hesitate to spread that folk metal jam across my blank slice of Schwebel’s. With a fun and allegro manner, “Tapporaut” delivers a hard-edged feel of the wilderness into an audible sense. Easy to notice is that Korpiklaani haven’t changed their uncomplicated methods and vocal patterns. Multi-layered vocals and speed pretty much drive the song.
“Metsamies” manages to perfectly translate the image of burly Finnish drunkenness into music. I wouldn’t be surprised if the band wrote it while downing some lager. It’s a fun and simple song, but not all that developed. I honestly don’t think the drums changed in beat at all. But alas, I’m starting to fall for that damn accordion!!!
“Keep on Galloping” will serve as an anthem to all those nomadic equestrians of Scandinavia out there. (You know who you are!!!) It’s got one hookingly catchy chorus along with……guess what…..That fuckin’ accordion!!! YES!!!! “Shall We Take a Turn?” is a wholesome little slice of an instrumental. It’s rather festive(much like everything by Korpiklaani) and spurts forth the only moment of double bass that you’ll hear on the record. Considering the drummer can only carry a variety of three beats, this is not good. This music could use a greater amount of sporadic double bass to disperse the tedium of the formula. I’d hate to say that my favorite song off Korven Kuningas is an instrumental, but I can’t help but admit that it’s true. This is most likely because I’ve never been in love with Korpiklaani’s vocalist.
The beginning of “Ali Jaisten Vetten” will make it appear as if Korpiklaani decided to show some indication of a tempo change. But, the rather slow intro only serves as a pretense to the continuation of that fatigued momentum their sound reeks of. We’ve still got that dry, distorted guitar along with one of the drummer’s three beats. By this point, the accordion may start to get annoying. Just a fair warning.
The next track, “Gods on Fire,” finally does the seemingly reluctant job of slowing things down. Its an acoustic tune, warranting the vocals to be a little less rough. Its one of the few English titled songs here so I decided to enlighten myself to the lyrics. Somber and deep, they seem to symbolize humanity’s ignorance towards nature. There is no time to repent or compensate for what is already lost…….personally I think it’s a metaphor for Al Gore’s global warming theory, but who knows?
I could just lump the next few songs into a classified mediocrity and ignore whatever unique features they may have…..and I am going to.
“Suden Joiku,” Finnish for “I don’t fucking know,” is one of the more distinguished tracks here. It opens up like a ballad and resonates with a more melodic and pleasant sound. Because its one of the more mature and beautiful sounding tracks, it ranks among my favorites from the album. I think if Korpiklaani put more effort into their rhythm section and vocal harmonies this album could have been a lot more enjoyable. My main problems with this album are that the guitars and drums sound so uninspired and plain. I know this style of music is unique to begin with, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t flavor it further with good songwriting. I think that maybe Korpiklaani should slow down with their studio releases (4 since 2005!) and put more time into making a record that is truly mind-blowing.
The title track has an epically folk intro and relentlessly ventures to exploit that guitar/accordion harmony you’ve heard for the entire span of the album. For the majority, its a loose and wild instrumental with enough flutes, violins, bagpipes, and accordions to make Steve Urkel cream his pants again and again. But after the fifth minute, things get a bit ridiculous. The instruments fade and all that is left is the most simplistic kettledrum you could ever imagine. Two minutes of it could have EASILY gotten the point across, but it lasts for an amazing 16 minutes!!! The worst part was, as a reviewer, to force myself to listen to every second of this monotony. I’m proud to say that I did and can therefore judge Korven Kuningas with authoritay!!!
A fun but rather rudimentary experience, Korpiklaani offer something for the listener who doesn’t require an overabundance of sophistication or sobriety. The only other record I have from these Finns is Tales From Along This Road. It’s carved from the same tree, but I feel a bit more enjoyable for those want to explore Korpiklaani.