By Jonny Bakes
Finland – the country with the most metal bands per capita (at a whopping 42.6 per 100,000). There just seems to be something in the water that results in metal bands just sprouting out of the ground deep in the Finnish forests! So, it’s really of no surprise that this latest album I’ve picked up hails from that very country, but what is perhaps more surprising is that this is a sophomore release within one year of their debut album. Those guys in Thy Kingdom Will Burn have certainly been busy over the last year, but will ‘The Voida And The Vengeance’ be the polished product of a creativity surge, or a rushed job to maintain momentum? Naturally the only way to find out is to give it a spin…
‘The Void and Vengeance’ pulls together all of the best elements from Finnish metal music, from the emotive riffs of melodic death metal (of the likes of Insomnium) to the dark and gloomy atmosphere and nasty riffs of the finest black metal. The vocals are very similar to the early Gothenburg melodic death metal scene, so will appeal to fans of At The Gates too! WIth this sophomore release, Thy Kingdom Will Burn have certainly captured that special form of motivational melancholy that has sucked me into this area of metal over the last few years.
From the outset, ‘Between Two Worlds’ offers a stunning gut punch with a dark chord progression and a guttural cry before abruptly shifting into a gentle piano melody. All of this leads into this fantastic melodic guitar riff that is accompanied by raw vocals that express anger and frustration. For me, the juxtaposition of the blackened riff and the gentle melodies enforces the feeling of being ‘Between Two Worlds’ which adds an extra element to this sheer belter of an opening track. I think you would be hard pressed to listen to this and think “hmm, I don’t fancy checking out this album”, I was certainly the opposite with this track representing a big “fuck yeah!” moment for me!
Also standing out, in part thanks to a special guest appearance that I’ll get to shortly, is ‘Fortress of Solitude’. This starts with a slow and foreboding riff before launching into an aural attack that had me involuntarily striking the Immortal pose. But perhaps what really brought this track to the forefront for me is the accordion solo from none other than Ensiferum’s (and formerly Turisas) Netta Skogg which invokes images of someone sitting alone in a remote house. So, I guess, exactly like a ‘Fortress of Solitude’!
I could go on about each of these tracks in turn, but not only would that ruin the surprise for you, but I suspect you’d probably give up reading half way through. Instead, let me bring things to a close by reminding you that ‘The Void And The Vengeance’ is a smashing example of dark metal that blends passionate melodies with dark brutality to bring you an album that packs some serious punch.
Well worth checking out for fans of Insomnium, Shadecrown and At The Gates amongst many more! And to answer my question at the start of this review, ‘The Void And The Vengeance’ is clearly the result of a surge of talent and creativity that provides a more than worthy successor to their self-titled debut that dropped less than a year ago! Thy Kingdom Will Burn are certainly a band to watch and lets hope they get the attention of Vicky and Adam so that we can see them grace the stage at Bloodstock in the near future where I think they’ll go down an absolute treat.
- ‘The Void And The Vengeance’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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