Mestarin Kynsi is the fifth full-length offering from Finnish experimental black metal outfit Oranssi Pazuzu whose boundary-pushing music has seen them branded everything form Black Metal to Space Rock. The reality is that Oranssi Pazuzu are entirely dismissive of labels and, although the harrowing vocals of Juho “Jun-His” Vanhanen tether the band to extreme metal, the wide-ranging scope of their remit allows them to wonder at will through space and time, drawing upon whatever influences seem fine to them at a given moment.
Opening with the eerie, hypnotic pulse of Ilmestys, the band instantly set themselves apart from their peers, conjuring a dense atmosphere that is utterly mesmerising. Shorn of the visceral riffing most commonly associated with black metal until nearly five minutes in, the weight of the piece falls on Ville “Evil” Leppiahti’s synths and Jarkko “Korjak” Salo’s restrained rhythms; the payoff being the sharp ascending riff that final breaks through the miasma with all the force of an ice pick to the chest. It makes for an astounding album opener and sets the bar incredibly high for what is to follow. Fortunately it is a challenge to which the band are more than willing to rise, and the psychedelic Tyhjyyden Sakramentti draws on the snake-hipped groove of The Doors at their most strung out and filters it through the psychosis of Syd Barret’s Floyd. A lengthy, slow-motion descent into hell, Tyhjyyden Sakramentti once again showcases the remarkable talent of Korjak, who seems to be possessed by the spirit of jazz as the piece progresses. At the album’s heart lies the ten-minute behemoth, Uusi Teknokratia, a simmering cauldron of icy rage that combines black metal nihilism with the iron control of industrial in a manner reminiscent of Thorns. As ambient effects echo through the mix, Jun-His’s inhuman vocals act as a flayed claw, beckoning the listener ever deeper into the maelstrom. It is a masterly display of tension and release, and it leaves the listener breathless in the slipstream of its majesty.
Opening the second half of the album, Oikeamielisten Sali sounds unnervingly like Clint Mansell’s work on Requiem For A Dream played on a turntable just starting to wind down. Then, just as the piece is about to give its final lurch, the band explode into life, a thousand blazing guitars obliterating everything in their path. Yet the strings remain, beautiful and defiant amidst the onslaught. It segues neatly into the taut Kuulen Aania Maan Alta, another track with a strong industrial undercurrent that serves to emphasise the discipline that lies at the heart of the band for all the seemingly spontaneous digressions. There is beauty here too, in the rippling notes that cascade over the listener at the track’s conclusion, and if these serve to give the brutal introduction of Taivaan Portti even greater weight, it only goes to show that nothing on this meticulous album is unplanned. A stormy finale, Taivaan Portti is the closest that the band come to a traditional black metal assault, although even here, the notion of traditional is relative and, over the course of eight minutes, the track devolves into a dizzying whirlwind of scraping strings and pummelling percussion, as if the band had decided to do an extended, black metal take on the sonic assault with which latter day Swans would bridge tracks. It’s a remarkable finale to a remarkable album.
A devastating, utterly unique take on a genre that can, all-too-frequently groan under the weight of overly familiar acts, Mestarin Kynsi feels like a gauntlet thrown. A game changer, it takes black metal into numerous new realms, without sacrificing the core power that has long been the genre’s trademark. Quite simply, Mestarin Kynsi will be hailed as a classic in years to come. 10/10
