The new AJATTARA album, titled "Tyhjyys" (Finnish for "Emptiness"), is a logical continuation of their previous works — a distinctive blend of dark metal, doom, and atmospheric black metal. But let's take it in order.
As usual, the Finns' packaging turned out exceedingly secretive and minimalistic: lyrics in Finnish (not much to understand), pseudonyms, year, recording location, and credits. In short, fans of lavishly designed thick booklets will find nothing to latch onto here.
AJATTARA is certainly a distinctive and undeniably interesting entity, but parallels can be drawn: here and there with early SAMAEL, occasionally with MOONSPELL, and perhaps closest of all to AMORPHIS ("Tales From The..."). The music is held at mid-tempo, filled with a vicious and aggressive atmosphere. And the Finnish language suits it perfectly — you can just picture an evil bog troll roaring in the desolate Finnish marshes.
There's no need to discuss recording quality — the mastering was handled by Mika Jussila, and he knows his craft. And the tireless Pasi Koskinen knows his craft too, continuing to reveal yet another facet of his dark nature.