Uncle Danzig will be proud.
Can you see the evil in his eyes?!
Sometimes it's fun to go back to the basics and that's exactly what these guys did with this new project. Formed by members of several Finnish metal bands from diverse genres such as Horse Latitudes (droney doom), Caskets Open (trad doom/punk) or Speedtrap (thrash), Initiated is a retro band and it feels like a vacation for these guys. The main worship object on their altar is none other than Danzig and that's certainly a rare thing in the metal world. While I'm not the biggest fan of the man, I do think his self titled debut is a pristine work but this EP is better than anything he did since at least two decades.
Feel
the touch of the golden hand! Ugh!
It
has this dark, occult feel (just look at the subtle yet dreadful
cover art) but it's in possession of a clear, admittedly joyful
spirit leading me to believe that the thematic isn't overly “serious”
but rather present to
represent their tongue-in-cheek nature, dark humor is something quite
present in Finland's snowy lands. Probably to give the necessary
confidence to withstand their depressive Winters.
It's played big with memorable over the top choruses full of Jim Morrison's shirtless dead demeanour,, Harri Kuokkanen (drums, vox in Horse Latitudes) is a force to reckon with here, his vocals (armed with the distinctive Finnish accent) are powerful and enjoyable. From the chanting in “Summoning” to the memorable sexy tomgabrielwarrior-esque “ughs” often found in their songs, he's just very charismatic and it transpires through the microphone.
It's played big with memorable over the top choruses full of Jim Morrison's shirtless dead demeanour,, Harri Kuokkanen (drums, vox in Horse Latitudes) is a force to reckon with here, his vocals (armed with the distinctive Finnish accent) are powerful and enjoyable. From the chanting in “Summoning” to the memorable sexy tomgabrielwarrior-esque “ughs” often found in their songs, he's just very charismatic and it transpires through the microphone.
Pass
me the goblet of your desires, let me fill all your cups, they shall
overflow.
The
music is a mix of heavy metal, hard rock and doom metal, it's quite
melodic and really has this crossover feel between all these
different genres. It's just very fun stuff with super cool riffs that
are the true opposite of subtlety (that's a good thing!) but they can
deliver some atmospheric (and sleazy) moments like on “Goblet”
and its great lead guitar work.
They're not reinventing the wheel but that's the main purpose of this project, it was created as an outlet to deliver the traditional goods and that's exactly what they did. Complaining about this fact would be like complaining about how your typical cheeseburger doesn't taste like foie gras. It's thick, full of riffs, it reeks of sex and it's rightfully occult, Initiated possess all the elements necessary to craft a superb piece of hot music.
Bandcamp
They're not reinventing the wheel but that's the main purpose of this project, it was created as an outlet to deliver the traditional goods and that's exactly what they did. Complaining about this fact would be like complaining about how your typical cheeseburger doesn't taste like foie gras. It's thick, full of riffs, it reeks of sex and it's rightfully occult, Initiated possess all the elements necessary to craft a superb piece of hot music.
Bandcamp
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