Band:	Fleshpress
Album:	Hulluuden Muuri
Style:	Blackened doom metal, Sludge metal, Stoner metal
Release date:	May 15, 2017
Guest review by:	VIG

01. Lunastuksen Ajan Veren Riitti
02. Hulluuden Viiltävä Lasipinta
03. Oikeamieliset
04. Siintävän Totuuden Häikäisevä Kajo
05. Voiman Täydellinen Toteutuminen

Fleshpress was a name I had never heard of until a couple of days ago. I saw that cover art, and thought "Oh, man, what the hell is this going to sound like?" I seriously did not know what to expect. Electronic grind? J-Pop doom? No, the album art never affects the music, but Hulluuden Muuri's just intrigued me so much that I had to listen. While it turned out not to be J-Pop doom, it was pretty fucking great.

So, what do these Finns play? Some awesome combo of black, sludge, and doom. Fast-paced for the most-part, very technical, and with a dissonant production. This reminds me a lot of Ved Buens Ende, especially the slow parts. The album is very energetic, and honestly, quite a fun listen. "But VIG! Metal isn't supposed to be fun, it's supposed to be dark and depressing! Plus, I listened, it doesn't sound very fun to me!" Ok, I'm going to forget what you said in that first sentence and move on. Yeah, it's not fun in the sense of how, let's say, Judas Priest may be fun for most (including me!), as it's extreme metal, with screeched vocals, and has a depressing tone to it that's kind of similar to Velvet Cacoon. If you want a better idea of what I am trying to describe in their sound listen to Hail Spirit Noir, which is basically King Crimson playing black metal, and I can definitely hear some influence from those guys here.

Apparently these guys have a pretty good back catalog, so I had to go and listen to their past albums, like Pillars and Tearing Skyholes. It sounded kind of different from this, but only because of how much more slow and sometimes even "drone-y" they were. So, this is a new sound for them. The faster, dare I say even more extreme sound of this album doesn't sound much like their previous efforts. I really think I prefer Hulluuden Muuri over all the others.