Eight years after their first collaboration that resulted in the album “Proslambanomenos”, Empusae and Peter Bjärgö (Arcana, Sophia, Karjalan sissit ao) released a new work entitled “Onus”. The four songs are worked out and compelling. It sounds dark and somewhere between Dark-Ambient and pure Cinematic music featuring carrying, slow, rhythms. Peter’s voice brings a magical touch to the melancholic sound composed mainly by Nicolas. It’s a subtle album that culminates in a tormented conclusion. (Rate: 7½).

Listen to “Overwhelming Cruelty”:

https://empusae.bandcamp.com/track/overwhelming-cruelty

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Beckahesten is a Swedish trio set up by Peo Bengtsson, Per Åhlund (previously involved with SOPHIA and also still active with Skare, Diskrepant and live member of Karjalan Sissit) and vocalist Viktoria Rolandsdotter. The band name is inspired by a creature from the Nordic folklore. It is a insidious predator that tricks women and children into riding on its back and then pulls them down into the water. Its back grows longer and longer the more people sitting on it. It has its equivalent in Scottish folklore, the water kelpie. Beckahesten already released two albums; “Vattenhålens Dräpare” (2020) and “Tydor” (2021), plus the single “Midvinter” (2021). Their works have been released by Cyclic Law. The sound of Beckahesten is a bit atypical although revealing familiar influences like Ritual- and Dark-Ambient music with great female vocals on top. I consider this band as one of the most promising new-comers. This interactive interview will give you a better idea about this formation.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: How and where did you guys meet and what makes the chemistry and/or complementarity between all of you?

Per: Me and Peo had been moving in circles around each other at concerts and festivals for years and had many common acquaintances. It was Johannes Ahlberg, our friend that mastered the first two albums and “Midvinter” who said ‘…there’s this guy you should meet’. He thought we had a lot of things in common. Johannes said that me and Peo should meet a few times and then Peo sent me the first version of Beckahesten which I really liked. But Peo didn’t agree that the material was ready for release. He felt a bit stuck and didn’t think his vision came through properly. So he asked if I could listen to some tracks and come with some advice. He then sent me over twenty, yes twenty, long tracks. I said that he could just take six of the tracks for one album, five for another album and ditch the rest of the tracks. But Peo wasn’t really pleased with that idea either. So he asked me if I could come to the studio and work on the material, so I did. That was the point we realized we work very well together and “Vattenhålens Dräpare” and “Tydor” took form quite quickly. Wanting to try lyrical elements and vocals in the music Peo brought Viktoria into the picture who gave another dimension to the material with her voice and her lyrics and then and there we created what now is the form of Beckahesten.

Peo: Yes, and Viktoria and I met when we were recording one of my dead end projects some years ago. After that we started to talk a lot about folklore and occult stories from southern Sweden where we both come from. I felt like Viktoria could contribute a lot to Beckahesten so I brought her to the studio.

Q: You introduce Beckahesten as the offspring between different music genres: Industrial, Ambient and Folk. I guess it reveals something about your potential sources of inspiration, but do you have explicit references when composing your music? And how do you transpose all the aforementioned influences into your own music?

Peo: No we don’t have any specific inspiration in mind when we work, thankfully not. I do listen to a lot of different music. I also got a fascination for obscure musical stuff that would never fit in to the sonic world of Beckahesten. The references for the music of Beckahesten I would say comes more from different stories and places. I do find the most inspiration in the forests and landscapes.

Per: All three of us like many different genres and I would say that all music that we listen to inspire us in some way. But at the same time, like Peo said, we have a rather clear vision where to go with the material and what feelings and imagery it should awaken for the listener. So we stay in the realm of that vision even when bringing in new elements or ideas from different genres. We can make a Punk or a Folk song, a Ballad or a Fugue, but it will still sound like Beckahesten in the end.

Q: I however noticed a strong and explicit Ritual touch recovering the production, which is accentuated by the vocals. Do you recognize this Ritual –and even somewhat Mystic touch on top of the production, and tell us a bit more about production of the vocals, which are essential to your work?

Per: The music is very ritualistic for sure.

Peo: Absolutely. When I create the music I have to be in a certain mood and all by my own. Usually it all starts from an image, or inner vision. I work a lot to transfer the image or vision into sounds. After a while the sounds become a scenery and I play parts of it in loops to get myself into an evocative state. If I reach that state I know it’s going to be something worth to work with. The sounds, music and ideas start weaving a composition, like if the sounds come alive.  So, yes. I would definitely call it a ritual when I’m creating the fundamental elements of the songs.

Viktoria: We always seem to understand each other when it comes to the ritual part of the process- and on my behalf, the ritual expression is both conscious and unconscious -depending on what the song is about. When working on the vocals sometimes we talk about ideas and thoughts beforehand, but often we don’t.
When I’m listening to new songs, I immediately get inspired. It’s like music and sounds made to feelings, stories and pictures in my mind that was already there. I often just improvise the melody as a start, from what I can only call a spiritual place inside of my own creative darkness. Then I extend it with lyrics. It’s very therapeutic and helps me to be authentic and genuine when approaching the different subjects we are working with.

Q: It all looks like there’s a close encounter between your music and nature; your work being recorded at different places. Tell us a bit more about this fusion between nature elements and music? How did the compositions happen?

Peo: Yes, as I mentioned. The inspiration comes from the nature and old stories of our folklore. It’s those feelings you get when your mind is without stress and it is only you and nature. I guess Per has more to say about field recordings.

Per: In Beckahesten the connection with nature for me is obvious. Even material made by Peo all based on Electronic sounds has that feel to it. It’s hard to explain, it’s just there. So it was an obvious thing to do, to add organic sounds and elements and sounds from nature in general.

I’ve always been recording sounds that I find interesting. Field recordings was my main sound source for many years, making several albums based only on such material. I had plenty of field recordings and sound collages with the right feel to them gathered for an unknown project when Peo asked me to work with him. I combined his soundscapes with my recordings and it just worked perfectly.

Q: Talking about the composition, can you tell us a bit more about the different stages you’d to go through to achieve your work? What’s the input of each of you and the different guest musicians?

Peo: Most often it all starts with me creating a soundscape, harmonics and a sketch-up for a song. I prefer to do this on my own. Inspiration tends to hit me in the middle of the night. Then we meet in the studio and Per starts to re-arrange the material, and do a rough mix. Followed by recording all kinds of acoustic sounds, throat singing or adding field recordings. In the meantime Viktoria starts to write the lyrics and we record the vocals. After that some more re-arranging and then Per does the final mix. By that time I’ve already started working on two new songs.

Per: I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with people that I’ve felt are the right persons to contribute with material for Beckahesten. I made recordings when out with those friends in nature, in caves, at gatherings and at peoples houses. Sometimes I know what I’m after and ask for that typical thing, but most of the times I don’t. I usually record the material when I feel that there’s the right atmosphere not knowing where or when to use it. If the material has the right feel it always will find a place.

Q: Two albums and one single have been released in a rather short lapse of time. Where does this creativity comes from and what are you actually working on? What about live performances and how do you see Beckahesten evolving?

Per: Peo writes so much music that there’s always material and ideas to work on and develop. When together we usually work really fast and with several songs simultaneously. Where that creativity comes from is hard to say. It’s the combination of us three I guess. We just open up the flood gates.

There’s one EP and another full album that is now in the process of being mastered and we’re working on album four and EP two. We’re also working on a single that will be featured on a compilation released by Cloister Records.

Peo: Yes it’s crazy and without revealing to much; there is more to come for sure. I feel that we have a really special relation to each other and respect for our individual work. When we meet in Beckahesten everything just fits together in a really creative way.

Live performances will come. When the restrictions of the pandemic finally will loosen up and the venues are opening up again. I really look forward for performing live with Beckahesten.

Per: As long as we keep working with Beckahesten it will evolve for sure. In what way is really hard to know. We just sit stern on the back of the horse and will see to what places it will bring us.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Peter Bjärgö is a well-known name from the Swedish underground scene related with music genres like Dark-Ambient, Ethereal, Neo-Folk ao. He gained recognition as member of bands like Arcana, Sophia, Karjalan Sissit… But he also released productions under his own name. The newest album entitled “The Translucency Of Mind’s Decay” has been again released on Cyclic Law and reveals a true sonic fusion between  Ethereal-, Cinematographic and Dark-Ambient music. The album is a fascinating opus reflecting delicacy, mystery, darkness and haunting. I’d a chat with Peter.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Your new album “The Translucency Of Mind’s Decay” has been written during the quarantine of the ongoing pandemic. In which way did this particular circumstance have an impact on your writing and the person & musician you are?

Peter: The main effect of the quarantine was that I wasn’t able to work with people in the studio. I had plans of bringing musicians to my studio and record more live instruments. But as the quarantine/restrictions still existed I had to continue my work alone. Also, all my plans of playing live were erased. For me, it hasn’t been all horrible with the quarantine. I enjoy being on my own in the studio.

Q:  “The Translucency Of Mind’s Decay” doesn’t sound as a happy title, dealing with the impact of time, which is going by. Tell us a bit more about the theme and thoughts you got inspired by?

Peter: The title refers to different things. We’re getting to an age where we experience the decline of our elders etc. And this means that memories are erased, leaving you alone, with blurred out memories as only proof of your past. 

Also, it’s about your own, and others, experience of change. It’s easy to fall into boredom/routine and stop progressing, leaving your mind in a downward spiral. This gets even worse if you’re stuck in destructive behaviors/patterns, like feeling sad/nostalgic about your ‘good old days’.

I think it’s important to make progress and stay curious about the mysteries around you.

Q: The album has been introduced as something new, getting back to some of your former projects -I especially recognize elements of Arcana. I think it somewhere fits with the concept of the album, but can you give us more details about the ideas, writing and production?

Peter: I have been forcing myself not to write music that sounds like my other projects, Arcana being a perfect example. But I’ve come to terms and accepted that the sound and feeling I had with Arcana is something that’s just there in my palette of musical taste. So I will not hesitate to include a song on an album that sounds a bit like Arcana, I even feel that I’ll accept if it sounds a little bit like Sophia at times. So, I’ll just keep an open-minded flow of music going, and see where it will lead me.

Q:  Time is going by and the older we are, the faster it goes, right? But how did you see yourself evolving as musician/artist? What do you still recognize today in your music  from the ‘younger’ Peter Pettersson/Bjärgö?

Peter:  Yeah, time is moving incredibly fast. I just continue my musical journey without looking back too much. When it comes to evolving as a musician, I’m not scared of change, I gladly embrace change, and I do not feel that I need to stay ‘true’ to a sound that is connected to my work so far.

Sometimes I just stop writing music during a period of time and spend time with other creative outlets, like painting etc.

But I guess that one important part of continuing to write music is that you’re continuing to make progress and get better on instruments, production etc. So in my world, there’s always a better song/album around the corner.

Q: The pandemic is still going on, but artists are finally getting back on stage again. I can imagine it must have been a particular feeling to play your music again in front of an audience? What do you think by the way about all these ‘streaming live shows’, artists did during the pandemic?

Peter: I’ve always felt a bit awkward on stage in front of an audience, and being away from it for two years don’t help. But at the same time I got to think about the nice things I missed being in quarantine. Like meeting a lot of nice people, seeing new cities.

I really look forward to the gigs that will happen now after the restrictions have been lifted.

I think live-streamed performances are here to stay. It’s really nice  to see all these incredible musicians streaming live from their living room or studio.

Q: Music clearly is a very important item in your life –as musician/artist and music teacher, but what’s the deeper significance and importance of music? Why is it that essential and important where ever the country or the culture we’re living in?  

Peter: Music is what makes me keep going. It’s the last thing I think about before I go to sleep, and the first thing I think about when I wake up. When I write music, I lose track of time and all my worries just fades away. It’s quite difficult for me to explain why I have this deep relationship to music, but it’s there and it’s powerful, to me.

There’s a lot of scientific proof that music have quite an impact on most people, so there’s something to it that makes it an important part of most peoples’ lives. And the same goes for most cultures. In many cultures music is so much more than just a commodity, it’s a ritual of life, love and death. It’s a metaphysical handshake with something so much bigger than we can even grasp.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Ethereal, Dark-Ambient, Cinematographic.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Peter Bjärgö is back on track, unleashing this year the fifth official album of his solo-work. The songs have been composed during the quarantine, which has been an inspiring period for the artist –known for his involvement with Arcana, Sophia, Karjalan Sissit ao… The result has been introduced as something new…

Content: I would say the album isn’t something ‘new’ in the career of Bjärgö rather than getting back to some influences and sound he elaborated with Arcana. There’s still the Cinematographic and Dark-Ambient approach, but the work also features explicit Ethereal inspiration reminding me of Arcana. The work is switching from haunting atmospheres towards dark reverie while enlightened by mystic parts composed by Eastern instruments. Peter Bjärgö’s deep, haunting timbre of voice injects an extra dark touch to the work.

+ + + : I’ve been always fascinated by the mystic sound universe created by Arcana so seeing this musician getting back to some of his ‘early’ influences is pretty enjoyable. But this is not Arcana, but simply Peter Bjärgö mixing different influences from his career as a musician. The work has something of ‘apocalyptic ballads’, but other parts are evoking ‘Eastern mysticism and reverie’. Some songs have a true transcendental effect. I like the production of the vocals, which rather sounds as an extra effect injecting a ghost-like sensation. Because of all these elements the work has a strong visual appeal. 

– – – : The album has something versatile, mixing different styles, but in the end it appears to be Bjärgö’s best solo-album.

Conclusion: Delicate and mystic, dark and haunting, the new Peter Bjärgö work sounds like a great vintage.

Best songs: “Immaculate Judgement”, “Séraphita”, “Dreams Coloring My Awakedness”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/PeterBjargo

Label: www.cycliclaw.com / www.facebook.com/cycliclaw

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-Ambient, Ritual.

Format: Digitalk, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: This debut album by the Swedish Beckahesten trio got released during the darkest days of late 2020. Driven by Peo Bengtsson, Per Åhlund (previously involved with Sophia, but also still active with Skare, Diskrepant and live member of Karjalan Sissit) and vocalist Viktoria Rolandsdotter, this album has been inspired by different elements of their culture.

Content: Beckahesten is hard to put in a specific music genre or label. They bring a mix of Dark-Ambient atmospheres and Ritual passages accentuated by the whispering, spoken words of Viktoria Rolandsdotter. The tracks have been accomplished by a wide sonic canvas of metallic sounds and different kinds of noises. The songs are progressively built up accentuating the somewhat inhibited impression of the work.

+ + + : Beckahesten wants to mix different ideas together, which clearly comes through in their composition. This work is a true osmosis between different dark influences. I like the intimate atmosphere, creating a kind of secret rite accentuated by the spooky vocals of their singer. It’s meant as poetry, but comes through as pure magic! The least I can say is that this project doesn’t sound like any other, which at the same time enlarges the sonic horizon of their label. I like this atypical approach, which proves it’s still possible to be creative and even innovative. I also like the tracklist, which is going crescendo hiding the best pieces right at the end.

– – – : I just have one single regret about this work; the album only features 5 tracks for 36 minutes of music.

Conclusion: Beckahesten is more than simply a promising newcomer, their album reveals a true genius composition.

Best songs: “Dödsfälen”, “Hotet”, “Skugan”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.beckahesten.se / www.facebook.com/beckahesten

Label: www.cycliclaw.com / www.facebook.com/cycliclaw

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Cinematographic, neo-classic, neo-folk.

Background/Info: Peter Bjärgö will always and instantly linked with formations like Arcana, Sophia and Karjalan Sissit to name a few. But he also started a solo-work under his own name. “Animus Retinentia” marks the return of Peter Bjärgö after a hiatus of 6 years.

Content: “Animus Retinentia” just like the previous releases is an intimate reflection of the musician. He seems to explore or create a dreamy universe, which is mainly composed by the simple magic of guitar and piano. We’re moving throughout an imaginary universe filled with deep, melancholic emotions and other intriguing atmospheres.

The work features a few instrumental cuts accentuated the soundtrack impression, but other cuts have vocals.

+ + + : I’ve always experienced the work under his own name as more personal and definitely intimate exposure of Peter Bjärgö. This new opus excels in this approach and could be a remarkable soundtrack for a dark movie. I like the switch between pure reverie passages and darker cuts. There also is a nice progression running through this work revealing the darkest pieces at the final part. “Memories II” and “Sleep Dep.Loop2” both are little masterpieces reaching an ultimate climax. Sadness becomes a beautiful exploration of hidden visions.

– – – : The first part of the work is fully enjoyable, but can’t fully satisfy all my expectations. There’s no climax, which luckily and progressively appears during the final part.

Conclusion: “Animus Retinentia” brings different influences and emotions together. This album confirms the great writing skills of Peter Bjärgö who probably has accomplished one of his most soundtrack-wise productions so far.

Best songs: “Memories II”, “Sleep Dep.Loop2”, “Memories”, “To replace My Sadness”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www.facebook.com/peter.bjargo.3

Label: www.cycliclaw.com / www.facebook.com/cycliclaw

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Out now is the brand new album by Sophia, “Unclean”, on CD (1000 copies), LP (500 copies) and even on cassette (100 copies, in collaboration with Total Black) all of which you can ahold of right here. You can preview the album below.

We contacted Peter Bjärgö (Arcana, Sophia) to know some more about this album and also about Sophia in general.

SL: For this new album you brought together some of the original collaborators which were featured on earlier albums, such as Per Åhlund, Stefan Eriksson and Ia Bjärgö. What exactly made you do so and what do you appreciate in each of them specifically?

Peter: I had so many songs, more than 20 songs, to work with and I felt I was starting to lose focus. So I needed some input on the songs, hence why I talked to Per, Stefan and Ia, and they all contributed in their own way. Per had these noisy-ambient pieces to help bind the songs together, Stefan and I have recorded a lot together so we had no problems writing a new song together and record his vocals on another song I wrote earlier. I wanted the album to be more diverse when it came to the vocals so Ia put vocals on two songs which came out really nice.

SL: Sophia has often been described as bringing a dark and oppressive soundscape of nihilism, bitterness and sorrow. What instigated this, what made you decide to give it that kind of feeling?

Peter: Living in a world as dark and corrupted as this gives me plenty of things to bring up. With Arcana I try to focus on more positive aspects, but Sophia is a way to ventilate the more darker topics. Also I think that the sound I have with Sophia resonates more with darker lyrics. I try not to put too much weight on the image of Sophia, these are things that come naturally, sometimes it’s just a few words or so which sound good with the music.

SL: Sophia was first started in 1998 when you recorded plenty of songs as a side project to Arcana. I presume Sophia is now a complete project without being ‘stepmothered’ by Arcana?

Peter: I tried quite early to separate the two projects, but as Sophia had a more orchestral sound on the previous albums people would compare them all the time. Now I think the situation is different, Sophia has a very different, distinctive sound that differs a lot from Arcanas. It’s almost like having two different listeners too.

SL: Sophia has been put to rest for many years until 2010. Why is that actually?

Peter: Well, I’ve been busy with a lot of things, Arcana and my solo project mainly. Also I have been writing the music for Karjalan Sissit which left me dried-out when it came to this sound, so I always felt that I needed to come up with a different sound and not the orchestral “reverby” sound Sophia and KS had/has. I have been writing a lot of songs during these years though, but I never found a sound that could work throughout a whole album.

SL: How do you look at the current martial scene? Do you see any progress?

Peter: To be completely honest I haven’t kept up to date with the scene, I’ve mainly been listening a ambient music, calmer music. But as we’re out performing again I get to hear and see a lot, which is a good thing.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil.

side-line.com

(By Stéphane Froidcoeur aka Deranged Psyche) 2015 has been already a prolific year for the section Side-Line Reviews. As head of the Side-Line Reviews section I can only, but be extremely satisfied with the huge amount of promo material we got. Over the 700 (!) releases were selected while nearly 550 (!) have been reviewed thus far. I take the opportunity to express my gratitude to all labels, promoters and bands considering and respecting our work and efforts and this for years now.

But I also have to thank all of our readers because for their interest, support, trust and consideration. It’s a very important source of motivation to keep me moving on trying to support our lovely underground scene the best I can.

A review of course remains always ‘subjective’ and a source of discussion, but keep in mind it will be always the perception of the reviewer, but I can assure you we always try to argue our reviews the best as possible. I noticed multiple great releases during 2015; from EBM to dark-electro to IDM to synth-pop to ethereal, to dark-ambient to industrial to gothic and a few related genres I made a TOP 20 of the best albums of 2015! This selection has been made with the promotional material we got while compilations and EP’s were not selected for this ‘best of’.

Stéphane Froidcoeur (aka Deranged Psyche)

01 Irfan – The Eternal Return (CD Album – Prikosnovénie)
02 Neuroticfish – A Sign Of Life (CD Album – NOR)
03 Acylum – Pest (DCD Album – Alfa Matrix)
04 Eisfabrik – Eisplanet (CD Album & EP – SPV/NoCut)
05 Senking – Closing Eyes (CD Album – Raster-Noton)
06 Ah Cama-Sotz – State Of Mind (CD Album – Hands)
07 Karjalan Sissit – …Want You Dead (CD Album – Cyclic Law)
08 Alien Vampires – Drag You To Hell (DCD Album – Alfa Matrix)
09 Supersimmetria – Kosmogonie (CD Album – Hands)
10 Johan Baeckström – Like Before (CD Album – Progress Productions)
11 Hearts Of Black Science – Signal (CD Album – Progress Productions)
12 Dear Strange – Lonely Heroes (CD Album – Out Of Line)
13 IAMX – Metanoia (CD Album – Caroline International)
14 Legiac – The Faex Had Decimated (CD Album – Tympanik Audio)
15 Grand((Ø))Signal – Aktivation (Digital Album – Grand((Ø))Signal)
16 Encephalon – Psychogenesis (CD Album – Dependent)
17 Noisuf-X – 10 Years Of Riot (DCD Album – ProNoize)
18 Star Industry – The Renegade (DCD Album – Alfa Matrix)
19 Chainreactor – Dirt (CD Album – ProNoize)
20 Frozen Plasma – Dekadenz (CD Album – Infacted Recordings)

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil.

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, dark-ambient.

Content: This is the first album in nearly 6 years for Karjalan Sissit, but it for sure is an opus that will enter into the band’s history. The title sounds like a misplaced, but freaky wish, which was inspired by the influential sources of this project.

Mastermind Markus Personen always has been inspired by the darkest themes in life, which mainly reflect social items. The vocals have been sung and produced a heavy screaming way. It all sounds like Personen is exorcising his own demons in life while the sound has been empowered by industrial percussion and tormenting ambient atmospheres.

Electronic manipulations and guitar effects both create a disturbing sound evoking cold, cellar atmospheres and harsh screams reminding me of legendary acts like Last few Days and Brighter Death Now. The cadence has been sometimes empowered and accentuated by martial inspired rhythms. Both debut tracks “Kantapää Lapiossa” and “Vittumainen Yksinäisyys” truly are masterpieces standing for the resurrection of Karjalan Sissit. This industrial-ambient style sounds like the last gate to hell.

We next enter into quieter, but still tormented sound fields. The vocals are somewhat spooky now or alternating whispering- and screaming parts (cf. “Firman Isoin Puliukko”).

But that’s just a better way to get back to the heavy side of this work, which also stands for the extreme tormenting sound emerging from “Läpi Elämän Helvetin”. This track appears to be one of the best cuts ever written by Karjalan Sissit. It reflects one of the highest imaginable states of terror symbolized by music. It’s a mix of ambient and industrial elements, but empowered by a ritual touch as well and epic arrangements. “Totaalinen Kaaos” is one more master piece and quite similar to the formula of “Läpi Elämän Helvetin”.

I don’t know if Markus Personen, Peter Bjärgö and Forn Bragman found their inspiration in alcohol, but they’ve achieved one of the darkest and most terror-like releases of their career.

Conclusion: “…Want You Dead” definitely stands for the darkest and most gore-like productions in the industrial-ambient genre. It’s a masterpiece touched by the genius of dark demons.

Best songs: “Läpi Elämän Helvetin”, “Totaalinen Kaaos”, “Vittumainen Yksinäisyys”, “Kantapää Lapiossa”.

Rate: (DP:9)DP.

Band: https://myspace.com/karjalansissit

Label: www.cycliclaw.com / www.facebook.com/cycliclaw

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com