Ikuinen Kaamos
The Forlorn

Imagine if in the mid-90s, two geniuses of the Scandinavian metal scene like Mikael Åkerfeldt and Garm (nowadays Kristoffer G. Rygg) had met in a typical Swedish or Norwegian pub (take your pick on whose home turf) and, in front of a classic mug of beer, decided to form a band together. What would have resulted? Simple, Ikuinen Kaamos.

Ikuinen Kaamos is actually a Finnish band born in 1997 that, starting from classic black metal, over the years refined their sound until in 2006, their first album "The Forlorn" was released; it presents a very unique sound where parts of folk, death metal, progressive, and black metal music blend perfectly, creating a melancholic atmosphere full of pathos.

The work opens with "Frailty", which begins with a delicate arpeggio on an acoustic guitar before exploding into the rage of death metal, characterized here by a deep and guttural growl quite reminiscent of the aforementioned Swede. The guitar lines then become more refined until, at one point, they will be swallowed into the sea of silence, which will be torn apart by a violent and crushing blast beat, distorted and murky guitars will pollute the air, and the singer's voice will become a desperate scream, it's the black piece: foul, cruel, and feral. However, the track seems not to want to end, much like the despair of the man this concept speaks of; the acoustic guitars will regain control of the scene and finally bring the song to a conclusion. Four more will follow, all equally beautiful and never mundane, which I do not discuss to avoid making the review excessively lengthy.

Now, I would stop to talk about the concept: the lyrics of the songs are beautiful and deal with a man condemned to solitude, only tempered by the wild nature and old photographs of people now disappeared or made unrecognizable by old age. Over time, the man goes mad, sitting on the chair in front of the window mumbling blessings and curses aimlessly, yearningly fantasizing about the end, his end. In conclusion, it will arrive cruelly but at the same time compassionately; feeling it now near, the man will rise from the chair and make the ascent to the hilltop, from which he can watch the last sunset. At some point, his strength will completely abandon him, the air will release his soul, and the man will thus fall into the black depths of nothingness.

An amazing album rich with emotions, presenting a highly refined sound yet not difficult to assimilate, the tracks flow quickly without letting the listener fall into boredom. Perhaps it won't be the most original work released in the new millennium, but I recommend it to everyone, especially to lovers of the aforementioned bands and those who love immersing themselves in melancholic and decadent atmospheres.