Artist: Geatkihaukr
Country: Finland
Label: Out Of The Dungeon
Formats: CD
Year: 2025
Although the band already released two demo tapes and a 7” EP through Out Of The Dungeon in 2021, 2022 and 2023 respectively, I only ran into Geatkihaukr with the split cassette tape with Veitsi, another Finnish one-man Black Metal project. But that split tape was definitely worth checking out and triggered me to listen to these previously recorded materials as well as looking forward to anything new. That new release came in the form of the project’s debut album, ‘Varjaeger’, also released through Out Of The Dungeon.
In the review for Geatkihaukr’s part of the aforementioned split tape with Veitsi, I used the words “textbook example of enchanting beauty through savagery” to describe the music of this rather enigmatic one-man band. And, for the most part, that statement still holds up. But, as a whole, ‘Varjaeger’ offers more than just Ildjarnian simplicity. Take a listen to a song like the opening ‘Suurtuhovalkean Nostatu’ or ‘Veremme Velvollisuudestasi Vapauttaa’ for instance, these are definitely tracks that go a little deeper into a demented sort of Folk-ridden quirkiness. With simple, punkish-riffs played in doom-pace with lots of weird and unorthodox things going on in the background, it brings back memories of the heydays of Woods Of Infinity. Also adding to that folkish character of the music is the occasional (semi-) acoustic strumming, it shows this musician’s penchant for ancestral storied and culture.
The middle part of the album is perhaps the most characteristic of what Geatkihaukr stands for. Starting with the aforementioned ‘Veremme Velvollisuudestasi Vapauttaa’ with its almost delirious sort of Folk-inspired riffing slowly fades into an acoustic interlude with slow strumming but with warfare noises like rattling guns in the back ground. Then the following ‘Tuokoon Tuulet Pohjoisen’ shows Geatkihaukr from its most traditional side, a hard-hitting Raw Black Metal sledgehammer with utterly harsh and aggressive vocals. All in all, this is a logical follow-up to the previously released material, stretching the Geatkihaukr formula further into something that is, I daresay, overall more well-rounded and balanced.
