Review by Carl on March 23, 2021.

You gotta hand it to Indemnity, cramming some 30 years of thrash and hardcore into a 21 minute album, that's no mean feat.

To describe it in short: Indemnity are a thrash metal band with a heavy influence of both old school and newer school hardcore punk, but to put it like that, one would sell the band short. While the vocals remind me of mid to late 90's hardcore/metal acts like Pro-Pain or Skinlab (you could basically fill in any post 1994 hardcore/thrash band here), their music is somewhat harder to define. It is not exactly your basic Slayer, Exodus or Kreator copy band, although these influences certainly show up throughout, but the band mix in different styles into the thrash metal frame of their music. There's crust and old school hardcore punk, but also Bay Area thrash, New York hardcore, crossover and even some 90's groove thrash, it all makes an appearance.

Throughout the whole album I hear bands like M.O.D., Sacred Reich, Vio-lence, Backfire!, Torque, 25 ta Life, early Slayer, Minor Threat, ... and those are just the ones that come to mind right now! The band has dropped it all into a blender and made their own, original cocktail of different metal and hardcore styles, without it coming across as forced. It has groovy mid tempo parts, thrashing polka beats, gang vocals, blast beats, blazing guitar leads, d-beats, ... Within the space of one song the band can seamlessly switch from Exodus style thrash riffing to blistering hardcore punk like Discharge and back again on the turn of a dime, without it becoming a mess. And it must be noted that even with all those different influences, this albums remains consistent throughout. Perhaps not all that they put in here is to my personal liking, but the fact is that there aren't a lot of bands that can give the thrash genre a spin of their own, but Indemnity does it to good effect.

This is by far one of the most varied thrash albums I have ever heard, and with it's excellent production and punkish energy it doesn't look like it's going to get boring anytime soon. There's just so much happening here it takes some time to let it all sink in, but it sure is worth the effort. I certainly appreciate their eclectic approach to the thrash genre, though I can also imagine that the usual patch-jacket crowd might have some trouble with Indemnity, because they have a lot more to offer than your basic Exodus clone band. Give them a chance, I'd say, they totally deserve it.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review by Mladen on March 3, 2021.

So, when was the last time you were excited about a band so much that you wanted to tell random people about them, only to find yourself wishing to smash their skulls with a Thor's hammer when you realize that they don't understand this "metal" thing that you're talking about? Not lately? Well, then, come here and read this.

A relatively young Finnish band, Havukruunu (something like "coniferous crown") were formed around 2013. One blazing album, several outstanding demos, a lot of Pagan raging noise, and now, in 2017, here we have the second official one, Kelle Surut Soi (Edit: it seems to be something like a wordplay on "for whom the woes tolls''). It's their best so far. And probably my, or anyone's, best this year. Or two years. To get this out of the way first: Havukruunu sounds approximately like something that would happen if Quorthon (around "Blood Fire Death") and Moonsorrow (around "Verisakeet") joined forces and along the way decided to put endless blast beats and two bass drums wherever possible. So, there are insane but perfectly understandable screams (that is, if you're Finnish, I suppose), Viking war cries, ancestor chants, choirs, spirits, and even some clean singing, presumably when the guy gets really mad. That's just the vocals. And then, the drums. Stellar, thunderous and varied, restless and bloody minded. You haven't heard a drummer who loves hitting his kit so much since... Well, since the previous Havukruunu album. If you pay attention, you can even notice him accentuating guitar riffs by hitting different parts of the ride cymbal. During a blastbeat. Because, Havukruunu.

Riffs? Yeah, there are those too. The first reason that got you into this aforementioned "metal" thing, remember? Havukruunu has those. Distant, poetic, triumphant, organic, honest. And also galloping, blazing and murdering. Just real riffs, the way riffs should be written. Some will reappear in your head the next day, some will smash you right away. Some will be a mystery for a while, like the blasting riff at the beginning of 'Vainajain Valot' that only becomes clear at the end of the song, because at the beginning it was almost silenced by the blastbeat. Some will make you want to raise your hands and cheer, like the headbanger part after the clean guitar break in 'Myrkskynkutsuja'. Some melodies are triumphant, some poignant, some only obvious if you pay attention, and solos are sometimes thrown in even where a normal band would go lazy. But Havukruunu don't do "normal" - or "lazy" for that matter. There's always something going on, be it an inspired bass line when you don't expect it, or a sound thrown in just to make things more serious.

And it's all good. At first, it's even scary, as you start liking Havukruunu too much and hoping they don't mess up and make a common mistake, such as a boring part after a good part. But, track after track, minute after minute, the suspicions disappear, and when the album ends, all doubts are over too. Because Havukruunu don't do "boring" either. And you can listen to it again without worrying about it. A few months after the release, I'm still listening to Kelle Surut Soi whenever I have an hour to spare.

The sound? Punchy and immersive, but a bit distant. You can hear everything, and that's already an accomplishment in itself. So, it's perfect for what it needs to be. If you hear someone playing Kelle Surut Soi in another room, you will probably get jealous. If you decide to reward yourself by turning off the lights and listening to it through your headphones, there will be nothing else, and you won't be able to think about anything but the music. Yes, it's that good. Get it.

Rating: 9.9 out of 10