Tevana3 is the new band from Finnish metal musician Juha Jyrkäs. You may not be familiar with the band or the man behind it but you will have heard of another act he is closely associated with. Juha is the man who contributes the Finnish lyrics on
Korpiklaani's albums.
Like his work with the folk metal behemoths and his other bands Poropetra and Sahtiwaari, the
Tevana3 debut
Mieron Tiellä is steeped in the tradition of his homeland. The most obvious aspect of this is that all lyrics are in Finnish. But there is another, more surprising twist on this album. It's a doom/black metal release without a single note of electric guitar featuring in its thirty-five minute running time.
Instead of a guitar Juha utilises an electric version of the traditional Finnish instrument the kantele. I was sceptical as to how this would work at first but after letting the album spin a few times it became apparent that dispensing with the guitar gives it a very unique and potent atmosphere.
The droning, distorted sound of the electric kantele does lend itself very well to the bands mix of doom, psychedelic rock and most prominently, late 80's/early 90's black metal.
The instrument creates a swirling, woozy haze that shrouds the bass and drums in a layer of fog. This creates a very oppressive ambiance and is evocative of the misty, desolate album artwork.
The album opens on the short, mid paced track
Siivet Poltin, who's strident drumming and repetitive bass hum overlaid by a low, almost whispered harsh vocal will capture your attention for its all to brief running time of one minute twenty-two seconds. The second song too seems a little short, wrapping up in under two minutes without seemingly reaching its musical goal.
It's with third track
Kipusi that the album really takes hold of you, the sparse Kantele lead intro ushers in a slow, torturous creep around the dark edges of the Finnish psyche. This song puts me in that same frame of mind that you get while listening to some of the great black metal acts like
Burzum or early Darkthrone. This is not only down to the music's lumbering nature but also the vocals of Juha. He screeches and howls his way through the track with the intensity of a man who is on the verge of losing his sanity. It's highly evocative of the deranged sounds that Varg Vikernes dredged up from his throat on
Burzum's debut.
Now that the listener is fully entrenched in the albums dark mindset, the music starts to unfold in front of you in foreboding style.
Koprat's short, sharp assault leads perfectly onto the shrieking, crushing riffs of
Pakkasperhonen, who's sound (in particular the drumming) will put you in mind of My Dying Bride but with a more earthy feeling due to extra percussion in the background.
One of my favourite tracks is
Poloine Poiga with its dragging doom riff and uniquely Finnish vocal style (not a million miles away from the kind that Jonne from
Korpiklaani uses in their slower moments) captivating me from the start.
Another strong track is the strangely melodic
Verinen Tulva, who's pacing and surging chorus are almost uplifting, although when the English translation of the title is
Flood Full Of Blood I'm guessing the lyrics are not quite as upbeat.
This album is not going to be for everyone, it's a hard listen at points and will be a bit of a slog for those seeking more traditional metal. But if anyone has been captivated by early 90's black metal and even the more recent output from eastern European bands like Drudkh or Negura Bunget (the latter of whom Tavena3 most definitely share a passion for psychedelic passages) then they will find kinship within its running time.
I will certainly be on the look out for any future releases by the band but one thing I would perhaps like to see is a lengthening of the tracks. I feel that if the band were to allow their seeping instrumental sections more room to breathe and expand then they could create something even more powerful than this impressive debut.
Written by
Stuart Tuesday, February 15, 2011
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