Il portale della musica Heavy Metal

recensione

Living in Finland from a few years, you begin to learn about all these "underground phenomena" and bands which fame is based within the Country’s borders. Heavy Metal Perse is a name that you certainly might hear if you hang out with the Finnish metalheads, or see on t-shirts at festivals/concerts. Which is kind of funny (not only for the name, since "perse" means "ass") considering that this "Aikakirjat" is actually their sophomore record.
Of course the success of the band is in their originality, limited by the lyrics written in Finnish language, but this is also why they are original and became popular so quickly with their first demos and the debut "Eripura". When you know at least a little of Finnish, you can, in fact, understand better what makes HMP’s music entertaining and appealing to the fans.
Even the cover artwork of "Aikakirjat" is very self-ironic, representing the four band members as some kind of drunk "Gods of Creation" (from which the word "Aikakirjat", meaning "Chronicles"), over a world populated by giant trolls burning people over wooden houses, eaten by giant fishes, or killing each other in war in what could be a small scene from Finnish mythology.
The record itself as a whole seems very "solid" in its composition, starting as quite heavy with "Paha Paavo", interesting opener with its insisting rhythm and folkish shades. The titletrack yells Running Wild in the guitar riffs, but elaborates into a more personal sound and actually proves to be well-chosen for representing this work. The following "Merirosvokaupunkiin", definetely more melodic, is a tribute not only to the German pioneers of Pirate Metal, but also to the old video game Monkey Island (and who didn’t love it?), although in the chorus you can clearly hear something in Matias vocals that reminds of another of his bands, Merging Flare.
"Vainolaista Vastaan" assumes again different tones, somehow resembling an "epic" war tune or chant. Peculiar is the guitar solo in between "Malja Rivimiehelle", just to prove that each of the songs seems to be able to stand well on its feet, while "Pettureiden Portti" feels truly like a jump back in the early eighties, opposed to the more hard-rock oriented "Hornan Koje". Interesting also the instrumentation in "Viimeisen Sillan Taistelu", and the acoustic guitars make the following "Vanhus Ja Meri" ("The Old Man and The Sea") surely the strangest but also most intriguing piece of the album. Still the band saved the best surprise for last: "Vesikeuhko", a Finnish adaptation of Jethro Tull’s "Aqualung", in my opinion very well done, and which suits surprisingly well to their music.
Performance-wise, Matias, singer/guitarist of this 4-piece, has a good charisma which properly brings out the melody in the heavy sound created by the instrumental base of these songs, sometimes compact and old-school, others giving more relaxed atmospheres through slower tempos and engaging harmonies. This is thanks not only to the good work of Heikki in dictating the rhythm, but also to the support of the other guitar Juha and Harri at the bass, mixed with some interesting additions such as Helena Sorva’s violin on "Vainolaista Vastaan", or Eero Kaukomies’ piano and backing vocals in "Vesikeuhko" and again "Vainolaista…" respectively.
Now I see why the band is popular in his own way, in one word, this stuff simply "works"! So well that you can picture them playing these tracks in a small pub or at night in an open air festival while listening to them (feeling enhanced by the production). And it seems it could be a good experience!

Recensione di Marco Manzi

tracklist

1. Paha Paavo
2. Aikakirjat
3. Merirosvokaupunkiin
4. Vainolaista Vastaan
5. Malja Rivimiehelle
6. Pettureiden Portti
7. Hornan Koje
8. Noitien Tuho
9. Viimeisen Sillan Taistelu
10. Vanhus Ja Meri
11. Vesikeuhko