1. Alkusanat (Forewords)
2. Kuoleman enteitä (Deathly Omens)
3. Rantaan rajattomuuden (To the Shore of Infinity)
4. Nimi kantaa sielua (The Name Carries the Soul)
5. Lopun sanat (Words of the End)
In my tiny little mind, Kalmankantaja hasn't held the same appeal as that other long-lived and prolific Finnish duo Circle of Ouroborus. Like CoO, Kalmankantaja (so far) has released three albums in 2022 though Grimm666 and Company were out of the starting gates early with two albums out early in the year. The third album for 2022, "Waiennut" is actually a sequel to an album Kalmankantaja released in 2021: this was "Waeltaja" which, inspired by and drawing on legends and myths associated with northern Finland, tells a tale of a wanderer seeking wisdom in the land of Pohjola. Finding what he needs in Pohjola, the wanderer begins his journey back to his home country but is caught up and lost in a storm that tests all his knowledge and all his strengths (inner and outer). A parallel between "Waeltaja" and the Kalevala, a part of which tells the tale of three heroes journeying to Pohjola to steal an evil witch's magic mill (so they can bring it to their people in Kalevala to create and provide abundance and wealth) and their battle on their way home against the witch's forces to keep the mill, might be present. Although "Waeltaja" and "Waiennut" are both credited to Kalmankantaja as a whole, the lyrics, vocals and some of the ambient music on both albums are performed by S Korpituli (Alkuharmonian Kantaja, Iku-Turso, Korpituli, Wrathage) and not by the project's usual vocalist Tyrant.
In "Waiennut", the hero Waeltaja leaves his home in Kainuu to make one more journey after capturing a bird and a fish whose strange characteristics foretell his death. After a sombre dark folk / ambient introduction in "Alkusanat", the album gets down to business in "Deathly Omens" with a harmonious mix of rapid-fire melodic BM guitar grind and coldly sinuous synthesiser ambient drone wash. The vocals are a mix of clean spoken word monologue and raspy BM barking and harangue. The guitars are raw enough that the music has a sharp bristly edge without overpowering the wintry keyboard tones or the singing. The overall ambience of the song is chilly and frosty with a very otherworldly feel, reflecting the nature and the goal of the journey the hero has to undertake.
As the album progresses into "Rantaan Rajattomuuden" ("To the Shore of Infinity"), the ethereal aspect of the music is further emphasised with the keyboards and guitars alternating as dominant instruments and the vocals becoming more mixed in their style of delivery with throat singing present among the varied voices. While this track is firmly atmospheric / melodic pagan BM in its riffing and singing, the prominence of synthesiser in its instrumental sections gives it a spacey ambient edge, as by this point the physical journey is transiting into a spiritual one. "Nimi Kanta Sielua" ("The Name Carries the Soul") is not very different from "Rantaan Rajattomuuden" in its minimal melodic style and the emotion is much the same as the hero's transition continues. The album closes with a traditional Finnish farewell to those who have just passed away followed by an old poem set to solemn space synth ambient that meditates on the unpredictability of death, how it reflects on the life that has been lived and how burial underlines the reputation of that life among the living left behind.
"Waiennut" is well done if sparing and restrained in style, with the emotion carried in the vocals (especially in "Nimi Kanta Sielua") and the music serving as a backdrop mirroring the changes in the hero's journey and the hero himself, and also illustrating something of the world that existed in pagan Finland where people might have accepted whatever destiny was dealt them, no matter how grim it was or unfair it might seem to us. There is no time or space for protesting or lamenting the things that happened (or didn't happen) in the past. The hero sees the signs of imminent death and accepts them, he does not question why they come when they do. He prepares for death and the transition it brings to the next world, whatever that may be. This attitude of acceptance perhaps explains the relative calm and restraint of the music if not of the voices. Perhaps if Waeltaja had been allowed just a slightly more modern, egocentric outlook on the life he lived and the new life that is coming all too soon for him, there might be a bit more emotional turbulence and tension in the music that could have made it more universal and accessible to listeners outside Finland. Waeltaja might have tried to ignore those harbingers of death he captured, tried to bargain with his gods for more time to do whatever he should have done or to make amends for past sins. The gods would deny what he wants, and the truth would dawn on him that his life is what he has made of it and he must accept it in its entirety. Whatever Waeltaja decides to do, whether he accepts the gods' will or not, would determine what happens after death and that potentially could make or break him – and the album as well.
As it is, "Waiennut" is no more and no less than what Grimm666 and S Korpituli set out to do: create a harmonious melodic BM / space ambient work steeped in pagan Finnish folklore that also has significance for them personally and which would resonate with Kalmankantaja's fans.
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