Verikalpa - Tuomio

Angry Metal Guy

Tuomio is the fourth full-length LP from Finnish extreme folk metallers, Verikalpa. Back in ’20,¹ I reviewed—and thoroughly enjoyed—Verikalpa’s sophomore platter Tuoppitannsi. The thing that stood out to me about the record, and its follow-up Tunturihauta, was how much it felt like the band was carrying forward the impeccable vibes from Finntroll’s earliest contributions, but without setting their stamp on it. Still, the writing popped and the sound satisfyingly scratched an extremely specific itch. As I wrote at the time, they bore “the accordion of tradition to the sauna of the metal gods, so that we might have something new to listen to while we drink.” But, let’s be honest, “competent but derivative” is not the praise anyone is looking for when they create music. And so one wonders, four years after my initial exposure, is that the only contribution Verikalpa had to make?

Tuomio by Verikalpa

Like its predecessors, Tuomio has a familiar sound that’s easy to love. Verikalpa plays speedy, sometimes galloping or even blasty, melodeath with as much harmonic minor as the songwriters can pump into the riffs. The band, made up of two Jussis (guitars and keyboards), two Samis (guitars and bass), a Jari (drums), and a Jani (vocals) play tight, energetic metal that calls upon their Finnish brethren, but without the pretensions of a Wintersun or Turisas. Their compositions aren’t complex, they’re not borrowing sounds from Japanese instrumentation, and don’t require quantum computing to play on a computer. And their scope is not one with epic aspirations. Instead, Tuomio works almost exclusively in simple time but does so with loads of pathos, driven on by majestic and sticky melodies carried on guitar or keys reminiscent of Turisas’ debut album. This makes it easy to drop into comfortable grooves, with the snare on two and four and machine gun kicks whipping at the Jussis’ and Samis’ backs.

And firmly planted in that familiar Finnish sound, Tuomio delivers the bangers in spades. Verikalpa vacillates primarily between speedier, driven passages that will annihilate unsuspecting crowds live (“Arvon tuomari,” “Noijan sauna”), and the kind of mid-paced tracks (“Laulava vainaja,” “Hakkaa hakkaa,” or the bridge on “Sammalsynti”) that can so often get sleepy if not perfectly executed. But Tuomio finds Verikalpa increasingly mastering their craft, balancing these different speeds, with every riff hitting home—and a seemingly innate understanding of when to slow it down or speed it up to keep a listener interested. Every song on Tuomio features sharp hooks, interesting variations upon themes, and tight execution. One major difference from the previous albums is that Tuomio is mixed and mastered by Pasi Kauppinen, of Sonata Arctica. Pasi’s approach gives them exactly the kind of crisp, and balanced mix that the band needs. And while it could be criticized as dated, it clocks in at a surprising DR of 8 and it fits the music perfectly. Pasi’s touch does the job of getting out of the way of the songs to allow the composition to speak for itself.

And it’s the composition throughout Tuomio that makes it clear how Verikalpa has begun to differentiate itself. One of the band’s most defining tendencies is playing key melodies in unison. That is, the bass, keys, and guitars are all playing the same thing, which sometimes gives it a punky energy. While this could be boring, it has the counterintuitive effect of creating a melodic blunt-force trauma. As a lover of big, epic sounds, I tend to lean away from bands that work with punky energy or ‘simplistic’ writing. But Verikalpa understands that songwriting is a balancing act, making the band’s very specific and well-considered use of harmony extremely effective. After several listens, I began realizing that I was perking up at these perfect moments, like in “Tulimerten taa,” where the harmonies come in (YouTube link, plays 15ish second clip), or the pre-chorus in “Laulava vainaja” (1:13) where the guitars suddenly deviate out of unison into an abbreviated lead, which adds a tight flare. What feels unsubtle becomes the band’s best compositional trick. Less turns out to be more.² This also gives the impression that Verikalpa has begun opening things up a bit more compositionally, experimenting with better orchestration and slightly carnivalesque sounds (“Maat hauraan hautaa,” the bridge in “Veritonttu”). It’s playful, but it’s worth taking 100% seriously.

Ultimately, Tuomio’s combination of a maturing band that’s developing its sound and a production that lets their excellent ideas and melodies shine creates what is easily one of the most enjoyable listening experiences I’ve had this year. Tuomio is an album without a bad song and that finds Verikalpa making major strides to come into its own. Even at 55 minutes long, I never think about the album’s length when I’m listening to it. It’s just fun hearing Verikalpa develop, and while their sound is still undeniably indebted to the Finnish scene from 20 years ago, Tuomio is helping them plant their flag. So, sure, Verikalpa continues to bear the accordion of tradition to the sauna of the metal gods. But in 2024, they no longer only do so as supplicants.

Rating: Very good (and getting better!)
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: V0 mp3
Label: Scarlet Records
Websites: verikalpaofficial.com | Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: April 19th, 2024

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