Artist: Korpituli
Country: Finland
Label: Korpituli Productions
Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD
Year: 2024
‘Pohjola’ is the third full-length album for the Finnish Black Metal band Korpituli, but honestly, if you have heard the bands previously released material, ‘Pohjola’ does feel like a brand new band, or at least, a brand new start. On the first two albums Korpituli sounded pretty much like a band that pays homage to the very best of Norwegian Black Metal in general and Emperor in particular. On ‘Pohjola’ there is little left of anything that sounds like Emperor, Limbonic Art, Satyricon, Manes, Odium or Obtained Enslavement…
Okay, there still is this undeniable sense for melodicism, but now it is impossible to directly compare it to Emperor or a Swedish band like Stilla. Instead, for ‘Pohjola’ the band opted for a more Folky approach. Although Folk Metal nowadays is mostly associated with bands like Eluveitie, Ensiferum or Korpiklaani, there obviously were already a lot of bands that had a strong Folk-induced sound, especially in Scandinavia. It is more in these territories that Korpituli found the inspiration for this third full-length album.
The melodies and song structures are way more in line with Satyricon, early Einherjer, Thyrfing and even the earlier work of Finntroll and Amorphis. Needless to say, this one comes without all the goofy nonsense that bands engage in these days, something bands from the Napalm Records roster seem to have an apparent patent on. With this album, Korpituli simply delivers rock-solid and no-nonsense Folk/Pagan/Viking Black Metal as it has been made for decades, with the Black Metal sharing the music with the Folky elements in equal parts.
This all fits perfectly in the conceptual idea of ‘Pohjola’. The album evolves around the legendary tale of a national hero named Lalli who killed the Bishop Henrik at a frozen lake (hence the artwork). Whether this is a one-time little off-road sort of experiment or an definite change of musical course is yet to be seen, but to me ‘Pohjola’ is definitely the best album Korpituli has yet brought to the table. Not only because of the musical finesse, but certainly also because this sort of music seems to be rather scarce these days. A refreshing listen for sure.
