Album Review : Seventh Swamphony by Kalmah

   

1.       Seventh Swamphony                05:10      

2.       Deadfall                                03:52   

3.       Pikemaster                                    05:04   

4.       Hollo                                                   07:20         

5.       Windlake Tale                                04:28   

6.       Wolves on the Throne               04:36        

7.       Black Marten's Trace              04:45         

8.       The Trapper                                06:02

“Seventh Swamphony” is the seventh full length by Finnish melodic death metal gods, Kalmah. Again, the band has shown us what it is capable of. The lineup of the album is just amazing. The wonderful combination of heavy vocals , fast heavy guitar solos infused with melodies (keyboard) which go very well with the vocals and the guitars , is something everyone will love to hear all day . Albums don’t come better than this !

Even though the band is still decidedly guitar-oriented: brothers & guitarists Antti and Pekka Kokko continue to intensify their technicality, and Seventh Swamphony slams riff after riff in true Kalmah fashion, pairing exuberant melodies with an abrasive whiff of black metal and a raucous hint of groove. The keyboard solos delivered by Veli-Matti Kananen would make you sit down and listen the whole album again and again. Guitar and keyboard go so well in this album that sometimes you would be confused that solo playing at that moment is on guitar or keyboard.

Most of the songs start with a very melodious tune which just sets the pace , the tune and the mood but when the guitars and the heavy vocals come crashing down you will be amazed how awesome the songs are.  The song ‘Hollo’ has a bit of clean vocals but that really didn’t make much difference to the song. Personally saying the best song of the album was ‘Deadfall’. The amazing melody which goes throughout the song will keep you glued to the song , the vocals and the guitars also do an amazing job in keeping up with melody .

The weak point of the album is the unnecessary drumming the some part of the songs like the ‘Black Marten's Trace ’. The kick drum doesn’t race with the same enthusiasm it did on the last two

Kalmah records, and treble overwhelms the compositions in especially busy sections. Another weak point is that Pekka’s vocals get buried under the instrumentation, and his vocalizations are powerful but all too often unremarkable in terms of tone.

Overall the album is a pretty good album. It’s a skillfully crafted continuation of their previous efforts. The album is really worth listening a hundred times, especially the song ‘Deadfall’.

Rating – 9.5 / 10