Unhola. What kind of a name is that? It is Finnish, and translates to "oblivion". I think Unhola is a project band (or their second band) of a few guys from Fall Of The Leafe and Crimson Midwinter etc. Basically, Unhola play black metal with death metal and folk metal elements thrown in. Surely, the music itself isn't too original in nowadays' vast metal music scene, but a couple of unique details definitely make Unhola unforgettable.

One funny thing, that happened to me was that I needed Ancient Ceremonies once again to find out this great Finnish band, and I listened to 'Puhtaasti pahoja', which featured on their cover CD, for weeks and I never noticed that the lyrics are in Finnish... So sick are the vocals (it's impossible to understand all of them even by reading the lyrics sheet)! The lyrics are usual anti-Christian and misanthropic stuff, "8 songs of pure evil" as it reads on a CD case. The absolutely mad and evil vocals are handled by Margoath. Two different main styles are usually both simultaneously used: Low demonic voice, which must have been lowered into the abyssic realms of inhumanity in the studio, is accompanied by a shrieky black metal voice. It all sounds maybe even more twisted as Glen Benton on Deicide records. Evil voice speech (on melancholic 'Ja Mustaan Tyhjään Kuiluun') and rotting throat gurgle are another vocal styles used. The vocals are really tough to bear, and are the real dividing line for a listener to tackle.

But onto the music now. The music consists of aggressive, death metal tinged in-you-face black metal, and melodic sections. There's a lot of blackish tremolo picking in the songs, but also some meatier death metal stuff, for which the title track is a very good example. The melodic riffage sounds very Finnish, reminding of old Fall Of The Leafe, Amorphis and other Finnish bands inspired by the folk music. The heavy and powerful rhythm section provides the sturdy backbone, with double bass drumming and blast beating steal the show. Big, sweeping synths play desolate notes. Again, very typical black metal stuff, but they are here just to back up everything else and aren't used all the time. At least there's no any piano tinklings... The music is melodic, but still aggressive, so no fear for "candy black" here. It is all pretty simplistic, but potently performed. During nine songs the band cover enough ground to keep it interesting for 42 minutes, and what's very important, they sound characteristic. Soundwise this is pretty clean (even the bass can be heard), but still punchy enough.

If you like evil and dark blasting metal, I suggest you check out Unhola now. They are definitely on a better half of all these hundreds of black metal bands, thanks to their unique traits and good songs. And hey, do not worry about any language barrier, since you won't actually notice it.

Rating: 7 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
12/15/2008 16:47