Finland's Kalmah brews a decidedly European blend of classically tinged, cinematic death metal on Swamplord.
Atmospheric keyboard washes heighten the drama, while adding texture to the quintet's crushing twin-guitar foundation.
The opener, "Evil in You," starts things off at a blinding clip, but resolves to a military funeral march fadeout, where the post-Iron Maiden dual-guitar harmonies give way to a mournful pipe organ.
The savage vocals should appeal to fans of At the Gates and Emperor; allowing the guitars to carry the songs' melodic content, the "singing" is a rabid howl of death metal aggression -- white noise converted into vowel sounds.
Kalmah also use tempo variations effectively; while many of the songs race along like machine-gun fire, "Dance of the Water" chugs with an effective mid-tempo simplicity.
For fans of the genre, Swamplord is well worth investigating.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evil in YouAntti Kokko, Pekka Kokko | Kalmah | Play | 05:08 | 11 MB | 39 MB |
| 2 | Withering AwayAntti Kokko, Pekka Kokko | Kalmah | Play | 03:34 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 3 | Heritance of BerijaAntti Kokko, Pekka Kokko | Kalmah | Play | 04:29 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 4 | Black RoijaAntti Kokko, Pekka Kokko | Kalmah | Play | 04:14 | 9 MB | 31 MB |
| 5 | Dance of the WaterPekka Kokko | Kalmah | Play | 04:31 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 6 | HadesAntti Kokko, Pekka Kokko | Kalmah | Play | 04:24 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 7 | AlterationAntti Kokko, Pekka Kokko | Kalmah | Play | 04:41 | 10 MB | 37 MB |
| 8 | Using The World | Kalmah | Play | 05:10 | 11 MB | 39 MB |
| 9 | The Blind Leader | Kalmah | Play | 03:12 | 7 MB | 24 MB |
| 10 | Vezidoroga | Kalmah | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 29 MB |
| 43 mins | 99 MB | |||||
| 43 mins | 332 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mika Jussila | Mastering |
| 2 | Kalmah | Primary Artist |
| 3 | Antti Kokko | Composer |
| 4 | Pekka Kokko | Composer |
| 5 | Ahti Kortelainen | Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |