The Finnish Blasphemous overlords have once again returned and this time with ‘Tie On Hanen Omilleen’, a 7-track blast which will knock you for six from the moment it carves itself open with ‘Mustan Unen Aiti’, to the moment it calls time with the closing bars of ‘Aamen’.

The album moniker and song titles are all presented in the bands native Finnish tongue, requiring an art in itself to digest them in order to be recited again without the aid of any prompt cards or personal notes, and the band members don’t make it any easier with their names, apart from the aptly named Scaregod, the others are all known simply by two initials each.

The vocals from Scaregod are raw and vitriolic, they are powerful and intentional, spat out with power and precision in order to conjure up constant images of goat sacrifices and slaughtering of souls. There are elements of spite and angst to the deliverance of the lyrics and they are so full of abhorrence and brutality it shows a real hatred and direct opposition against all of Christianity.

All tracks on the release follow the same vein and travel in the same direction. Each has fragments of individuality although the main back bone and soul to each one very much replicates its neighbours and album siblings. As much as the vocals are all out raw and misanthropic, the layered musical score on which these lie is very much melodic and tuneful.

Each track has a catchy and ‘Jolly’ feel to the core although the drums and strings are created and showcased with precision and overflowing technicality. Each song is layered with elements of independence, and the initial lunge at your jugular soon fades as each track settles down creating an air of them becoming repetitive and almost monotonous.

Dual vocals are injected intermittently throughout the package, most obviously and successfully on the title track, ‘Mustan Unen Aiti’, where towards the end of the song Scaregod and A.H can be heard duelling for vocal seniority. T.R’s bass can be caught bolstering up the release with crunching and demonic bass riffs while R.P provides a constant and inconceivable drumming ability which allows the core of the beast stay grounded, almost creating musical craters with its power and ferocity.

This is the fifth full length release from these satanic stalwarts and the knowledge and experience shows through on this latest opus, but for me the vocals, imagery and music sitting behind it all just don’t marry together in harmony. Add a bit more of a dirty raw edge to the proceedings and I may have been sold, as it stands, split yourself in half in order to truly appreciate the package on offer here and it may just catch you.

(7/10 Phil Pountney)

https://www.facebook.com/Scaregod

https://goatsofdoom.bandcamp.com/album/tie-on-h-nen-omilleen