Kuolleen Maan Omaski
SATURNAL
Blackened Finns fail to conjure up any new shades
Väki’s debut album displays some of the miasmic characteristics of Finnish death metal, which, in turn, helps distinguish the band’s sound, built primarily on prominent black metal foundations. That basis, however, regularly falls into generic chasms and the shrieking vocals grate more than elevate the rapid tempo changes and often effective depth-charges into deathly chaospheres. There are also doom-hewn passages throughout this album that work well, but the band needs to give the vocalist a sedative and reduce his dominance in the mix, and then try adding some distinction to the riffs. So, for now, Väki are a case of ‘heard it before - heard it done better’.