Artist: Stutyr
Country: Finland
Label: Wolfspell Records
Formats: Cassette EP / CD EP
Year: 2023
One of my favorite demos of 2022 was the first release by the Finnish Herugrim, whose ‘Demo XXMMII’ featured a stunning mix of raw Black metal with epic Heavy Metal and a touch of Folk. The instrumentalist of that duo, who goes by the pseudonym of Anleifr, also features in the raw Black Metal solo project Xavarthan and is part of Stutyr, a four-headed beast that further consists of V, Olav and Sawyl. After a single released in 2022, ‘Missä Yö Teidät Kohtaa’ is the first Stutyr EP that saw the light courtesy of the quality label Wolfspell Records.
On ‘Missä Yö Teidät Kohtaa’ the band approaches Black Metal from a rather melodic angle that is reminiscent of the Swedish scene of the late 90’s. Parallels with Dissection are particularly obvious, ranging from the sense of melancholy to the twin melodies, Heavy Metal riffs and Thrashy rhythms. But similarity is one thing, sounding like a copy is something totally different. For one, the vocals are in a raspier pitch and the trademark reverb has been omitted. In addition, the music of Stutyr has a flair of the typical Finnish Black Metal sound and tonality, mostly in combining a harsher guitar sound with subcutaneous melodies and thundering drums. This was slightly more evident on their ‘Vihan Valtakunta’ single but certainly comes back on for instance the title track of this EP, a song which otherwise stands out with an excellent midpaced break with great creative drums. In a song like ‘Viimeinen Aamunkoi’ all worlds of inspiration collide, raging with intensity and underlying melodies while also featuring the epic riffs and even a nice melodious solo. Folk rhythms and Heavy Metal melodies are much less apparent than in Herugrim, but in particular in ‘Meinneiden Varjoista’ they snuck their way in. Add in a free role for a creative approach to the bass guitar, and the overall impression of ‘Missä Yö Teidät Kohtaa’ is positive, being both recognisable but also featuring a somewhat fresh sound. The only remark is that the drums sound a tad sterile and are maybe a little bit too much in the forefront of the mix at the cost of the guitars and vocals. But it would be nitpicky to let that stand in the way of enjoying an otherwise excellent debut EP.
