Those That Are Sent Forth: A Look into the Roots and Beginnings of Finnish Death Metal
Introduction
Finnish death metal (from here onward abbreviated to finndeath) is a movement that is perhaps best known today for acts such as Amorphis or Sentenced, although both of these bands are primarily famous for their albums moving away from death metal. In more initiated circles bands such as Demigod, Purtenance and Convulse will surely be mentioned fair amounts, and one will begin to form a picture of finndeath being a scene chock full of putrid, doom-influenced hymns, oddball bands with avant-garde flourishes, and an often reoccurring brand of weird, atonal riffing, as well as the occasional strangely groovy and rock-y riff found inside a relentless death metal onslaught.
But where did all this come from? How and why did these bands come to sound like this? Without the context of some oft-forgotten and lesser known bands, the finndeath explosion of 1990-1993 may seem strange, but like all good mysteries there’s always a disappointing conclusion, and this time that is thrash metal.
Yes indeed, like in most other places with notable death metal scenes in the early 90’s, there was a thrash metal scene where many of the first pioneers of the sound came from. An interesting thing to note though, is that one couldn’t really speak of a thrash scene in Finland up until around 1987 or 1988, and by that time death metal trailblazers were already active and fairly well known (in the right circles) elsewhere. Due to this late bloom for Finnish thrash, two things need to be talked about:
The scope of this article will be fairly limited time-wise, featuring releases from the years 1987-1989. Due to this small time-frame, it’ll be fairly difficult to properly showcase how bands and their sound evolved (or how they may have influenced each-other), so the focus will primarily fall on individual bands and releases, and less so on the context and the scene, and how the band might tie into it. The other thing to note is that a lot of the bands already fulfill a lot of death metal criteria, or at the very least represent the more brutal and heavy end of the thrash metal spectrum. Most Finnish thrashers would also end up being active or somehow would end up having connections to the death metal scene in one way or another. While for the sake of this article I'll firmly categorize every release I'll talk about as either thrash or death metal, it’s worth noting that a lot of this distinction comes from modern genre semantics. A lot of these were called one or the other, or even both during their time (or choosing to call their music something else entirely).
So what’s this t(h)rash anyway?
Thrash metal in Finland couldn’t really be spoken about up until around 1987, as I mentioned before. Finland never really had that big of a heavy metal scene in the early 80’s, and opportunities for bands to record, or even a crowd to play live to was difficult to find. Record distribution to Finland wasn’t always the best either, and not many thrash metal bands, American or German really thought about coming to play in Finland at that time, so even the concept of thrash metal may have been fairly unfamiliar to a lot of Finnish metalheads at the time. It’s also worth noting that a lot of the musicians who would come to form the Finnish thrash metal scene weren’t even mainly into metal, rather listening to prog-rock (which Finland had an abundance of), hard rock, etc…
While in many places thrash metal scenes branched off from hardcore punk, or the punk and thrash scenes were in heavy interplay with each other and evolved side-by-side, this didn’t really happen in Finland. While some bands do mention punk as an influence, most of these were foreign bands1. The only Finnish bands who really took a punk direction would be Faff-Bey, playing in a punk-y, Motörhead infused sound, Prestige going crossover on their Veijo EP and Dirty Damage who played crossover highly influenced by all the big American bands of the time.
What really set off the thrash metal scene in Finland around 1986-1987 is the massive surge of popularity for bands who now form the American big four. World tours (including gigs in Finland!), massive record sales and a proper development and popularization of the thrash subculture began worldwide, including Finland. Many of the most famous German bands also managed to get their records around to the Finnish market, and the influence of bands like Kreator or Sodom will be heavily apparent in a lot of the releases mentioned here. Out of American bands Slayer was most likely the biggest influence. The tape trading scene also began to spread its wings for the first time, allowing many bands to have their music recorded and heard without having access to professional studio equipment. All of these factors together were what lead to Finnish thrash metal taking off in the second half of the 80’s.
While I will be glossing over a lot of the Finnish thrash metal bands who didn’t belong the more extreme fringes of thrash metal (sorry Airdash, Prestige and Faff-Bey, you’ll get your opportunity one day!), I would like to take some time to talk about Stone. Being arguably the biggest and most well-known thrash metal band of the 80’s in Finland, the commercial success of their self-titled debut album would set a sort of model for a lot of other Finnish bands to follow. Stone was in a way the first to make it big playing this style of music, and sort of proved that you could go a lot farther than drunken rehearsals, local gigs and demo tapes. A lot of their more technical elements, influences from bands such as Coroner, and the fact that a lot of the musicians grew up on prog-rock as I mentioned before would also largely contribute to all the strange and technical riffs that finndeath is known for.
Noteworthy thrash metal releases
Mengele – Senseless Extermination
Formed in 1987, Mengele hailed from Kiiminki, a small city in northern Finland (this will be a pattern, most of the thrash bands of that time were either from there or the Helsinki area), formed by a group of friends. Their main influences being Slayer and Kreator, this is quite apparent in their overall sound, especially in the drumming and all the heavier bits. What’s noteworthy here though is the guitarwork, with a lot of the riffing and soloing echoing almost predicting what would come from death metal in the following few years. Just listen to the opening of Selection!
Protected Illusion – Swimming in the Moonlight
Formed in 1988 in Vantaa, a part of the Helsinki metro area. Protected illusion would have time to record two demos before this 1989 EP, both featuring a similar sound, and both also worth listening.
Featuring ferocious, almost screamed vocals, and a plethora of aggressive and very technical riffs, creating quite a chaotic sound. Many of the riffs and leads on this album wouldn’t feel out of place on a finndeath demo 2-3 years later. Fans of Sadus, Coroner, and Florida death metal would enjoy this a lot. Also there’s a really funny, upbeat, almost hard rock sounding opening on the title track.
A.O.D. - Painful Awakening
Formed in 1986 in the town of Kauhajoki, A.O.D. would release two demos before this 1989 EP, taking heavy cues from Slayer and Bay Area thrash in their sound, although quite lead guitar-heavy in comparison, and definitely not being a far cry from some of the more death-metal oriented acts of the time.
A.R.G. - Heathenism in Penitentiary
Formed in 1987 in the town of Kuusamo, A.R.G. are perhaps one of the most well known acts to be talked about here. Their demo, heavily inspired by Teutonic thrash, creating a violent and relentless
attack is quite remarkable for its date of release and where it came from. Many of the members would also play in Lycantrophy, a band who I’ll be mentioning later, and National Napalm Syndicate, who’ll also have their place on this list. Their 1989 album, Entrance would further develop and mature the ideas on this demo, featuring lots of heavy drumming, similar riffs and a raspy vocal style, closer to what death metal is most commonly known for in the vocal department. The band was certainly involved in the death metal scene to some extent too, one of their members mentioning having played with Death in an interview2.
National Napalm Syndicate – Painful Ten Hours
Coming from the town of Pudasjärvi and formed in 1986, National Napalm Syndicate are also one of the bigger bands within the context of Finnish thrash to be mentioned here. Having many connections both to other thrash bands such as Lycantrophy or A.R.G., and to the wider world of Finnish extreme metal. Their 1987 demo, Painful Ten Hours is probably one of the releases most heavily inspired by Kreator/Sodom on this list. A perhaps funny thing to note is that this release has two guitarists, and quite often it feels like one of them is trying to play something akin to the first Kreator record or Sodom’s Obsessed by Cruelty, while the other one is trying to mimick Bathory’s self-titled and sophomore albums. Overall a pretty heavy and enjoyable release, with a fair amount of significance both to Finnish thrash overall and to the northern Finnish scene.
Terrific Verdict – Demo 88
Formed in Helsinki in 1987, Terrific Verdict released two demos before disbanding in 1990. Their first demo is a filthy relic of a melting pot of all the heaviest thrash bands of the time, often approaching early death metal in its sound. At times there’s fairly interesting and technical lead guitar bits too, even more apparent on their second, 1989 demo, Lost Preacher (also worth hearing!). In an interview their frontman mentions hanging around with Protected Illusion a lot3, so I wouldn't be surprised if the two bounced some ideas off of each other.
Oppression – Scars 1988-1990
For this band I’ll mention their demo and EP compilation released in 2015, as it’s the easiest way to find all their material. Formed in 1987 in Vantaa, and sharing members with the previously mentioned A.O.D., as well as with Exitus, who’ll be brought up for the death metal section. Playing in a highly technical style, and not afraid to write songs reaching 7 minutes, and one thrash epic even reaching 10, Oppression definitely weren’t afraid to experiment around. While a lot of the guitarwork does take heavy cues from Coroner, there’s a lot more to it than that, with the lead guitars and solos often almost taking on a life of their own. Even some of the Finnish death metal bands who worked around with technical soloing pale in comparison. There’s also some Celtic Frost influence here and there in the riffing and drums, although it primarily shows in the vocals, with the vocalist mimicking Tom G Warrior’s iconic vocal style fairly well on some of the songs.
Lycantrophy – Sickness Revealed
Perhaps my personal favorite from here, Lycantrophy were a band formed in Kuusamo in 1987. Sharing members with bands like A.R.G., National Napalm Syndicate and Sacred Crucifix (who i’ll mention later on), the band had ties to all over the Finnish thrash scene. Their 1989 demo, Sickness Revealed is a ferocious thrash assault, often bordering on death metal (even as we define it in the modern sense). The thick, bassy sound creates a nice, bouncy feeling to a lot of the riffs, with the THREE different vocalists raspy croaks going along perfect with the thrashing offensive unleashed here. Recommended for fans of early Sepultura, the last track also reminds me of early Morbid Angel a fair bit.
Other releases of note from this time are:
Anthony – Perfect Violence & Concrete Destruction
Crematory – Confirmed Suffering
Cryptic – Cryptic 89
Sceptical Schizo – Demo 1
Are we dead yet?
During the course of the year 1989, when Finnish thrash metal was by some standards still in its infancy (and it would die a tragic childhood death), several bands from all around Finland reached a point which by modern standards could be labeled as death metal. While ultimately the difference in sound between most of the bands mentioned so far, and the bands from here on isn’t that particularly big (with a few exceptions), all of the releases I'll be listing have something which makes them step over a sort of border, where the trashiness, while still playing a large influence in some cases, becomes suppressed for something new.
Noteworthy death metal releases
Funebre – Cranial Torment
Formed in 1989, the same year as the release of this demo, perhaps most well known for their full length Children of the Scorn, Funebre won’t be the only Turku area act mentioned here. Cranial Torment is regarded by many as the first Finnish death metal release, and while I’ll be offering alternatives to that claim, as many bands independently reached a similar conclusion at around the same time, this release is undoubtedly remarkable both in itself, in the wider context of Finnish metal at the time, and for the influence it had. Cranial Torment is a chunky, bottom-heavy, bassy slab of primitive death metal that will delight all fans of Symphonies-era Carcass, Autopsy, and in general Finnish death metal. While the demo relies primarily on groovy, mid-paced and slower sections almost crossing into doom, there’s many faster parts coming out of the left field and hitting you with furious lead guitars and raging intensity. There’s definitely also some bits and pieces of the oddities and strangeness that makes finndeath so recognizable. Mandatory listening.
Exitus - Reh. 23.10.-89
Formed in 1989 in Vantaa, releasing both this rehearsal and their later demo fairly shortly after forming, and disbanding just as quickly. In my eyes Exitus, while coming from a largely thrash background, where in every way a death metal outfit, formed with the intent of playing some form of death metal. This definitely both sets them apart from many earlier bands, and puts them in the same group as the bands talked about here. For the rehearsal demo itself, Exitus play a slow, crawling and grim take on Celtic Frost/Hellhammer, much like Necro Schizma and other early death-doom bands. Worth a listen.
Unfortunately not on YT, but you can find it online if you know what I mean.
Necropsy – Mental Disturbance
The Lahti-based act, after having been active for 2 years under various different names, released their first demo Mental Disturbance in 1989. While Necropsy are mostly known for their later demos, this release is remarkable as well. The demo still features lots of thrashier elements, but the songwriting style and general approach towards riffing is already very much in the realms of death metal. Traces of how finndeath bands usually play around with melody can also be found here, especially on the last song Slippery Games. One thing I’ll mention before I move onto the next release is that the vocalist is awful and all the lyrics of the second song are completely intelligible.
Same thing as for Exitus, but I'm sure you can find it ;)
Sacred Crucifix – Realms of Darkness
Featuring many members of Kuusamo based acts, Sacred Crucifix first began playing under the moniker Criminal Assault, releasing one demo in the vein of Kreator/Sodom (which would be re-released one year later as Sacred Crucifix, but leaving off the last song), and then changed their name. The band’s first proper demo, Realms of Darkness continued in a similar, Teutonic thrash inspired vein, although a lot of the release feels way more matured and removed from a purely thrash context, with tracks like Requiem exploring lurking, doom-y sounds. Fans of Merciless from Sweden and people into early death-doom would both find something worth hearing here.
Holy Hell – Kill Jesus
Formed in 1988 in Imatra, and practically being the first incarnation of doom metal legends Unholy, Holy Hell’s Kill Jesus demo is one of the most interesting releases here. Coming from a fairly outsider perspective to the scene, and not even really being properly a part of it, Holy Hell’s inspirations differ a fair amount from the other bands here. In an interview guitarist Ismo Toivonen says:
We wanted to be heavier than other bands, because I think none of us liked traditional death/speed metal. Celtic Frost and Black Sabbath were some kind of idols to us. But we liked bands like Voivod and Coroner too, so the result was some kind of mix from those two.4
The odd group of influences definitely makes sense. In many ways this demo does resemble a lot of early death-doom, but there’s lots of otherworldly guitar solos, some even crossing over into almost heavy metal-ish directions strangely enough. A lot of other early death-doom still is fairly heavy on the thrash metal elements, they’re far more subdued here in comparison. Strange and fantastic demo.
Phlegethon – Visio Dei Beatifica
Formed in Joensuu in 1988 by a couple of passionate teens who used to play Slayer and Iron Maiden covers together, inspired by many thrash metal acts Finnish and foreign, but primarily Slayer’s Reign in Blood, Phlegethon set out to make music in a similar vein. Sounds familiar right? Practically every thrash band on this list had similar beginnings. But Phlegethon took this far more further on their 1989 demo, Visio Dei Beatifica. Heavy, rhythmic, savage in every moment, this demo is extraordinary. While Phlegethon weren’t the only band to play death metal in Finland during this time, practically all others, besides maybe Holy Hell were highly inspired by foreign death metal acts. Phlegethon took a formula of practically just Slayer and various other thrash bands, and took it to an entirely new level. Talented songwriting and magnificent soloing (sometimes even crossing into weirdly hard rock-ish territory, something oddly typical for finndeath) makes sure that no moment here gets boring. Seemingly Phlegethon were quite popular in the early death metal scene too, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they were highly influential on a lot of the bands.
Xysma – Swarming of the Maggots
Not just the second Turku area act on here, but the second one highly influenced by Carcass. First active in 1988 as Repulse, then changing their name to Xysma in the same year, this highly influential and eclectic outfit released their first demo, Swarming of the Maggots in 1989.
Have you ever listened to either Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment or Reek of Putrefaction by Carcass, and wished they were even more fierce? Drowned in fuzz, full of hollow snare hits and irresistible grooves, all topped off with guttural yyyyyyääääghs and gghhhaaarhgs? This demo is a monument of musical mutilation and is a must listen for anybody even slightly into goregrind.
Beyond this demo Xysma were in many ways pioneers for the Finnish death metal scene, and the direction they took their band in had an influence on the scene overall – for better or for worse.
Conclusion
Almost as quickly as it was born, Finnish thrash was overtaken by the beginnings of its death metal scene in the last year of the 80’s. Building on a base of Slayer and Kreator worshiping, often technical bands, even in its first year finndeath quickly found several directions, and several bands independently developed the roots of various sounds which would come to dominate Finland’s metal for the next 4 or so years. I hope you enjoyed reading this write-up and could find something new!
Inanna
1: https://www.metal-rules.com/2023/07/09/wengele/
2: https://www.metalcrypt.com/pages/interviews.php?intid=281
Comments
Post a Comment