TULIMYRSKY

Just like that other memorable (and by now classic) EP made by that important prog metal band (what´s their name again...?) Moonsorrow´s Tulimyrsky in packed with one monstrous epic (30 min long!!!) and some other songs which pale in comparison making this reviewer having to lower the rate of what could have been a perfect score. For it is a shame Moonsorrow did not release this epic as a single song like Meshuggah did with their marvellous I, but instead filled this EP with another extra 40 min of music, making this release even longer than their previous albums! Whether it was their choice or the choice of the record company is allusive to my knowledge, but who ever took that decision made a mistake in my book.

Now, on to the music. Tulimyrsky, the song, as mentioned earlier is a 30 min epic piece of music. And when I say epic I mean it. If I had to discrive Moonsorrow I would say they are Epic folk metal (with some pinch of viking) so you know they are epic... and when they write a 30 min song, well... you get the idea. Following the style of the rhapsodias presented in V: Hevitteti from 2007, Tulimyrsky opens with atmospheric keys and soft acoustic guitars while it crescends on to one of the most brutal entrys to a metal song. Now you know Moonsorrow will take no prisioners, from there on the music is hard, brutal yet sophisticaded and at times beautiful. Probably more melodic than their previous side long songs and definitly more symphonic (not in the prog way, but in the classical music way), specially in the outro, Tulimyrsky holds up against Moonsorrow´s previous work V: Hevitteti and shows us that these guys did not rest their heads, but instead wrote another masterpiece! And while Tulimyrsky may not have an absolute unique moment of music-heaven like Jäästä Syntynyt / Varjojen Virta´s chorus like riff around the tenth minute, which is one of metal´s finest moments in history, the whole thing is as solid as you can get, never letting go, never letting down and only a close second to the already mentioned Jäästä Syntynyt / Varjojen Virta.

The rest of the album as said already is pretty much 40 minutes of fillers. More hardcore fans of the band might find them interesting, particulary their cover of Metallica´s classic For whom the bells tolls, but I must say I don´t really find anything of interest in here. You might... but I don´t, either way, you have been warned! Get this only for the epic, you´ll be greatful!