It’s always a good day when we get wind of new heavy music coming out of Finland. The land of a thousand lakes is also the land of a thousand cracking metal bands, and Karelian Warcry are no exception. It has been a long old slog for the lads, but they have finally announced that they are ready to unleash their third full-length album, Veripellot, this spring. To whet our appetites, they’ve dropped the first single from the record, “Mielen rutto” (which translates to “The plague of mind”).
The road to this release hasn’t been an easy one. The band, who originally formed in Kouvola way back in 2002, were forced into a hiatus in 2014 following the tragic passing of vocalist and guitarist Matti Mikkonen. It’s the sort of blow that would finish off many bands, and while the remaining members scattered from their hometown, they never truly called it a day. Instead, they kept the fires burning, working remotely and in the rehearsal room to honour their legacy and create something new.
Now, over a decade later, the result is Veripellot. The band describes it as their most cohesive and crushing work to date, which is saying something considering their back catalogue includes 2005’s Kylmä rautainen and 2010’s Verinen taival, päättymätön tie. While their roots are firmly planted in black metal, their sound has evolved over the years to incorporate wider metal influences, blending wistful, haunting melodies with absolute driving rhythms and violent storytelling. The lyrics, as you might expect from the genre, dive deep into war, violence, and the grimmer aspects of the human condition.
If you fancy a bit of Finnish darkness to brighten up your day, you can check out “Mielen rutto” on all the usual streaming platforms now. It’s good to have them back.
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Header image by Imran Shamsul
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