The idea of putting together a mixtape of ‘indecipherable Finnish gurgleracket*’ is something I’ve had in my head for a while and it kind of sprang into reality the other day, thanks to the delights of people on social media. Finnish metal [particularly death metal] has long been an obsession of mine — the grosser and more malevolent, the better. When one thinks about Scandinavian death metal, Sweden often springs to mind first with the fat guitar tones that Sunlight Studio helped create; Finland is regularly overshadowed. Unfair. A lot of Finnish stuff, for me at least, has a much more evil undertone that is absolutely riveting as well as insanely fucking heavy. There are a few bands that are more well-known but there are scores that get less play who deserve your attention, too.
How lucky for you then that I’ve dumped all of my favorites into one place. Most of it is death metal, with a fairly even split of old bands and new ones that nail that ‘recorded in their mom’s dank basement in 1992 via nerf football’ sound. There’s a smattering of black and doom also, because fuck me if Finland doesn’t rule at everything they do. I’ve been saying for years — it must be something in the water.
Instructions for use: Please play it loud enough to cause brownouts.
*shout out to to Ross for this entirely apt term.
Nine Circles 