Korpiklaani
Korven Kuningas

THE REVIEW

Welcome to the village festival of sausages, wine, bacon, and fried lard. Forget metal, rock, cazzinculus, and whatever else. Here, you can breathe in the folk atmosphere with loads of beer (right! The beer! I had completely forgotten about it...).

Nonsense aside, when I first listened to the Korpiklaani album "Tales Along This Road," I was petrified and disgusted. All the reviews of that album spoke in, to say the least, enthusiastic tones about how the band had drawn a hilarious and incredibly dynamic folk metal from the Nordic hat. I found nothing amusing about it. In fact, it only pissed me off because I couldn't understand a damn thing in their typically "umpa-zumpa-tumpa-urca-zumpa-tumpa-tirulero" sound. Thus, I shelved the band and album and vowed never to listen to an album by Finntroll's younger (lesser?) cousins again.

How wrong I was...

After a friend of mine rushed to me with their latest release, KK, I was horrified. He insisted I listen to them, and I agreed. "Now I'll trash them so this jerk learns not to bother me anymore." After listening to them once, I was determined to tear them apart. But.... But. There's always more than one 'but' when you realize that quite possibly, the band might have some potential. Indeed, after many listens, I completely changed my mind; the album is beautiful, dynamic, colorful, and incredibly fun! That hybrid of humppa (the Finnish polka made famous by Finntroll), folk, and power-thrash metal manages to create terribly catchy riffs that make you wiggle like a merry sprite. "Tapporauta," with its accordions, distorted guitars screaming thrash, and the singer completely drunk on beer, is surprisingly engaging. The chorus, then, is so idiotic and catchy that I can hardly believe I'm drawn to it! But the album doesn't just stick to the coordinates of the first track. This is because violins, flutes, accordions, bagpipes, and jouhikkp (a type of traditional harp) will fuel your desire to listen to it all the way through the 14 tracks. Thanks, in particular, to a polished production and that "dynamism" that never bores you. Kudos to the whole band, especially the singer, who smoothly and confidently transitions from folky and arcane melodies (like in the melodic ballad "God Of Fire") to more angry and more "danceable" episodes.

What can I say: if you love originality, innovation, dynamism, and if you're tired of the same old clichés, well... then Korpiklaani deserves a chance from you.