Finnish Underground Stalwarts FÖRGJORD Return with an Ode of Black Metal Intensity
Finnish underground stalwarts, FÖRGJORD return to the fore with their latest exhortation into black metal miasma - Laulu Kuolemasta. A well-kept secret from Finland, the band is not quiet on their musical offerings, rather, delivering a high intensity, thoughtful evocation of raw, yet cogent black metal. Raw, bleeding, and with plenty of cadences to keep the rhythms moving forward, the production on Laulu Kuolemasta is laceratingly chilly, tinged with bitterness, and sung in native Finnish tongue. The rhythms of this musical labor press forward at a familiar cadence, incorporating both blast and battery, laced with the ferocity of 2nd wave black metal production and clarity. It is the earnestness behind the production oftentimes that becomes as compelling as the music.
Track 1, LAULU MURTUVAN NISKAN is an energetic opening, with jumps between favorite black metal movements while also falling into traditional drum and guitar cadences, blending well with the aforementioned and giving a unique familiarity to the song, and this entire album maintains that momentum and writ. There is a ton of nuance in this album, with what sounds like musical experimentation, but only insofar as exploring more variety for sonic expressions. These moments are few and far between, serving merely as a chance to catch one's breath before the songs immediately take off, once again.
The pace of Laulu Kuolemasta is never one to rest upon a cozy motif, as the ebb and flow of visceral songs wax and wane, ultimately weaving a blistering, energetic black metal assault. The album ends with much the same inflection as it began, with the introspective musings of solo guitar, melancholy synths, and then then the rhythms propel for a melodic finale capping off this excellent black metal offering.
The mentality behind the album is a heady, inflective fulcrum; translated into English, Laulu Kuolemasta means 'Song about death,' which conceptually ties the songs together. Rather than write some pithy musing, I will let the artist - founding Guitarist / Bassist, Valgrinder - speak to the concept and meaning for his own work:
Guitarist / Bassist Valgrinder; FÖRGJORD
"Modern man has alienated himself from death, and the stranger death feels to him, the more he fears it. But death is more than just the end of all; it's an important part of our lives, and metaphorically, it means rebirth. 'Creation through destruction' - one has to die before he can experience rebirth. Death washes away all our sins, and death doesn't judge; we are all equal in front of it. So, one shouldn't fear death nor close his eyes from it. When people accept death in their everyday lives, they don't fear it anymore, and without fear, they can live finally free. But death can also be nothingness and never-ending cold darkness; it can be the final solution or ultimate punishment. So death has many different kinds of faces, and Laulu kuolemasta is our homage to it - that universal power that's as strong as life itself."
Laulu Kuolemasta (CD, LP) by FÖRGJORD will release on June 26 through Werewolf Records.
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