Loits's "militant flak 'n' roll" has caused some waves here in the northern stratosphere, mostly musical, but also their image has risen some eyebrows. Guys are wearing nazi uniforms in the pictures, but there's another reason for it that you may think of. They sing about Estonian history, when the land was between two dictatorships. Estonian stood with Germans against Soviet Union, but aimed for independent Estonia. This album is dedicated to Estonian freedom fighters.

"Flak 'n' roll"? Loits's music is black metal derivative. Old, simplistic stuff in vein of Hellhammer and Norwegian forefathers of the genre, but still with their own touch. Productionwise, this is just too clean. It takes roughness out of the music, which is performed with vigour, especially grim vocals (sung in their native-tongue, but lyrics are also printed in English too). For me, those more atmospheric songs, eg. 'Võitluslipp' (something like 21st century Czechs Root), 'Vanade Legionäride Laul', 'Kodu' and Oskar Ruut', sound much better and more complete. Acoustic guitar works very well on some of the songs indeed, as does a few lines of clean vocals. More rigid songs just feel plodding around at times. Synths, which aren't used often in front, are horrible at times, especially those pop licks at the end of 'Furor Aesticus'.

Maybe shorter songs would work, but the production is damned well wrong kind for this music. This is very promising effort, but doesn't manage to catch my heart.

Rating: 6- (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
06/28/2006 19:31