Pitchfork

Well, I guess there's nothing left to do but pick up and move to Finland. In the summer, it's almost unbearably hot where I live, my rent's too high, and no offense family, but you're just not cutting it. Furthermore, the Fins have the best music: in the last year I've been fortunate enough to jam to new records by Circle, Luomo, Varttina, Gjallarhorn, Pharaoh Overlord, Uzva and now Alamaailman Vasarat. They say it's cold there. They say people drink profusely and go for weeks without talking. Never mind all that, I'll just stake out a Helsinki street corner somewhere, slip a Sibelius disc in the Walkman, and witness the magic. I'm going to do that right now.

However, my love of all that Finnish music is only eclipsed by my tendency for procrastination: bringing you the details on AV's Käärmelautakunta will have to do. This band (translated as "The Hammers of the Underworld") is an offshoot of the defunct avant-prog ensemble Höyry-Kone, who were as likely to break into Iron Maiden as they were to launch epic King Crimson-style rave-ups. Drummer Teemu Hanninen and bassist-come-saxophone player Jarno Sarkula began AV as way to integrate more of an acoustic texture into their music, and the result is something of kick in the gut to traditional Finnish folk. Chiefly, where their country's odd-meter dances and tart, minor-chord hymns seem like the music of a lost mythology, AV injects a forceful, metallic dread into the forms. In addition to drums and sax, they feature pump organ and two cellos. This instrumentation might lead you to believe they play chamber music-- and on occasion they do, though when the cellos hit the distortion pedal, things get heavy, heads bang and all Valhalla breaks out.

Käärmelautakunta is AV's second record, and makes a great case for them being the pre-eminent proponents of the supposed "ethnic brass punk" tag they give themselves. As far as I know, they're the only band actually playing this stuff, though in spirit at least, I can see valid comparisons to other European tricksters like Uz Jsme Doma or in their heavier moments, Scandinavian Black Metal. Still, the somber beauty in tracks like "Vanha Iapsuudenystäva" makes clear these guys are no mere metal mongers. Piano and cellos begin the slow waltz with lilted, moaning figures that might pass as straight gypsy funeral music. One cello rises unto its upper register to take the melody, and when the percussion and saxophone enters, the tune's tragic, circus-orchestra melancholy is almost too much to take. AV has done a little soundtrack work, and I can very easily see this tune during the closing credits to a movie about the death of a shoemaker who moonlit as a mime for the czar.

A subtle Klezmer influence works through some of the songs, such as the breakneck oompah of "Lentävä Mato" (or "Flying Wyrm"), to which I dare anyone to attempt to dance. The middle section is again reminiscent of some threepenny Eastern European melodrama best suited for sad clowns, but is quickly disintegrated by manic cymbal flares and the furious sax-led melody. "Vasaraaasialainen" ("Vasar-Asian") is at once elegant and raw, with its buoyant pump organ and razor-sharp cello bassline. Sarkula's fanfare should sound familiar to anyone digging John Zorn's Masada, but rather than Semitic free jazz, the vibe here is pure Finnish ominous joy. The band drops away in the middle for a surprisingly gentle soliloquy of organ and cello, and returns with a bang right back to the dance. It's as celebratory, irresistible a moment of music as I've heard this year.

The harsher passages on Käärmelautakunta, such as the sludging menace of "Kivitetty Saatana" or relatively straightforward metal of "Astiatehdas" ("Dish Factory") are actually the least engaging, if only because AV doesn't get to investigate their more subtle strengths. That said, just so you know, the closer "Jää, Hyva Mieli" will physically rip your neck from its shoulders if you get to close. I still want to check out Finland at some point, if only to soak in some of the culture that produces this stuff. Until then, AV comes very recommended.