Pharaoh Overlord
Zero

If art is the reflection of the culture that produces it and music is an artistic expression, it follows that Finnish musical production is certainly worthy of attention, since Finland is the country where it seems people live best in the world (paradoxically, it also records a very high suicide rate, but oh well).

Scrolling through the by no means exhaustive list of major Finnish bands (so far I have counted 190 out of 5 million inhabitants), it stands out that 63% of these are linked to the metal genre.

The Pharaoh Overlord were conceived to constitute the remaining 37%: the non-metal.

It should be noted that the band was actually founded in 2000 by three members of Circle (reviewed on the site here and here), one of the few Finnish experimental-space-kraut-hard-post-rock bands. Thus, Jussi Lehtisalo, Rättö ja Lehtisalo, and Janne Westerlund have carried on this parallel project for two decades, which constitutes the non-playful aspect of their circle-musical personality, in a perspective of complementarity with the main formation. This complementarity is publicly declared through the two albums published in 2015: respectively, for Circle, we have the album Pharaoh Overlord, and for Pharaoh Overlord, we have the album Circle.

Zero is the fifteenth in the pharaohs' production and, published in 2018, marks the achievement of new artistic maturity (subsequent works will be consistent with this "turn," I recommend listening to the following two albums 5 and 6), precisely the zero; thus turning from the stoner of the early albums (among these recommended is listening to #3) to new horizons. The restart happens through the reproposal of some tracks from a previous album, Horn, to emphasize the more classic "one step forward and two back," decidedly improving in my view as I find Zero more original than previous albums despite inventing absolutely nothing, indeed.

The Pharaohs for Zero benefit from two decisive collaborations:

The first is the one that brings the group back to more classic and familiar metal territories, concerning the choice of the voice which is Antti Boman, whom some may - perhaps - remember for being the frontman of Demilich (reviewed on the site here). For those familiar with Demilich's album, it's probably unnecessary to specify that Boman's growl singing is characterized by a register so low, deep, and visceral that calling it cavernous would be an understatement.

The second is related to the presence of Hans Joachim Irmler, one of the founders of Faust, whom we can rightly consider responsible for the krautrock elements present, referring to the term with Faust (obviously) and Neu!.

As in the previous album Horn, Zero opens with a cover of Revolution by Spaceman 3. It must be admitted that the shock caused by Boman's voice growling WELL... I'M SICK... doesn't easily leave the listener even after numerous listens, although personally, I find the experience not at all unpleasant.

Revolution is probably the least interesting piece on the album, although it undoubtedly constitutes its programmatic manifesto, immediately clearing up the ideas for skeptics who may refuse to listen to the rest. It proceeds in a crescendo of madness touching many sounds of the '70s, for this, besides the mentioned krautrock, one may recognize the spatial kaleidoscope of Hawkwind on I Drove All Night by My Solar Stomp and Lalibela Cannot Spell Zero, or it becomes sensually animistic on Satavuotiaiden salaisuus. Sometimes Boman's growling voice entirely blends into the music or - to put it better - is sucked into the overall black hole vortex.

Boldly H.J. Imler, one of the fathers of krautrock, still reveals a broad vision or perhaps a healthy and constant attitude towards entertainment, without having major issues with stylistic hybridizations.

For listening (strictly at very high volume), an eclectic mind and lots of good humor are highly recommended.