Kalmah - For The Revolution review
| Band: | Kalmah |
| Album: | For The Revolution |
| Style: | Melodic death metal, Extreme power metal |
| Release date: | April 23, 2008 |
| Guest review by: | K✞ulu |
01. For The Revolution
02. Dead Man's Shadow
03. Holy Symphony Of War
04. Wings Of Blackening
05. Ready For Salvation
06. Towards The Sky
07. Outremer
08. Coward
09. Like A Slave
10. Arise [Sepultura cover] [Japanese bonus]
Kalmah's new release was one of the most expected albums of 2008 for me, with the band being one of my favorites. Following The Black Waltz, an album which I like very much, For The Revolution came rather disappointing after hearing it for the first time. But with time, as I was listening to it more and more, it really grew on me, and I consider it a good piece of music worth to be called a Kalmah album.
The thing I love about Kalmah is that they are very devoted to their style on each new album, this one being no exception. They keep playing their swamp metal and don't experiment much with the sound: one can still hear the storm of fast and slow riffs, mixed with good and flexible drumming, multifunctional keyboards, Pekka's traditional growling, and on top dressed with solos, both guitar and keys. As for the lyrics, they keep talking a lot about the evils of society as well as politics, pollution, and mass media. Another very vivid lyrical theme on the record is Christianity, the direction that the band took I believe starting with "Man Of The King" from The Black Waltz. As far as this record, songs like "Wings Of Blackening" and "Ready For Salvation" are clearly Christian, with some others relating to the subject too. For instance, "Toward The Sky" expresses exasperation towards God and the title track has something to do with it as well. The album also contains two potentially great live songs, which are "For The Revolution" and "Holy Symphony Of War." The choruses on both songs are real battle calls (the latter is a bit ironic though) and would sound great with the forty-thousand-people crowd singing their part. Maybe with those two Kalmah will finally go on a big tour and make a real "swamphell" out of any venue.
Despite the steadiness in the music that this Finnish combo shows, For The Revolution gives you a feeling of listening to something new, interesting, and filled with fresh ideas here and there. Some people say this is Kalmah's worst album, and probably this is indeed not their best effort, but at least they keep making great quality albums, they don't follow the trends and they are consistent with their music. As a result, For The Revolution can be easily nominated for Extreme Power Metal album of the year, giving dust to Children Of Bodom and Norther.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by K✞ulu | 24.07.2008
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 25
Visited by: 179 users
| Elio Red Nightmare Posts: 4920  |
i agree man...this album in my opinion is not their best but very good though..i rate it 8.5 too...and we also think the same about holy symphonies of war...man that song will rock in gigs!!:banger2:
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2573  |
Written by Elio on 27.07.2008 at 15:34 Gracia mille.  I wish they could come to Ukraine, but that probably would never happen. They almost never tour even in Europe. 
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| Elio Red Nightmare Posts: 4920 |
Written by K✞ulu on 27.07.2008 at 15:38 i know i know...it's saaad
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| Sunioj Posts: 3894  |
Hmm... I guess I'm one of the few that thinks that this is one of the best (if not the best) albums from Kalmah. To me, it seems that they have taken the best details from each album and placed it in one. This is just how I want it to be, the last album didn't have as much tremelo leads and was more driven with melodeath-ish power chords and almost completely covered with low pitched growls yet this one seems to combine that for the best with their early sound imo. I'm pretty impressed.
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| Elio Red Nightmare Posts: 4920 |
Written by Sunioj on 27.07.2008 at 17:56 ehy man the things u say are true...infact this is maybe my 3rd favourite kalmah album...i only said this is not my fav...and 8.5 is a very high ratwe 
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| Sunioj Posts: 3894 |
Written by Elio on 27.07.2008 at 18:28 Well, yeah, I wasn't doubting that mate 8.5 is damn good. Though, I can't help but notice how the reviewer mentions that the lyrics of some of the songs indicate that the songwriters perhaps are christian. Its understandable how one can come to that conclusion, but I feel that Kalmah's songs have somewhat sarcastic lyrics when it comes to religion and politics, so it's hard to tell what they are thinking. Not that it really matters in the end... (well, depends if lyrics are that important to you  )
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2573 |
Written by Sunioj on 27.07.2008 at 18:43 "Wings Of Blackening" don't seem sarcastic at all... and "Man Of The King" even more than that. But actually of course one could sing about such thing with sarcasm even in their manner, so I don't know. They never mentioned anything about it.
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| Janne Hugin Posts: 1721  |
Which is your favourite song from the album? (Mine is Outremer)
----  -FOLK METAL HUNGARY-
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| Jason W. Razorbliss Staff Posts: 3523  |
I really like this album, it's got some great catchy hooks, and they get stuck in my head for hours And I agree with what you say here: "a feeling of listening to something new, interesting, and filled with fresh ideas." It's not original in the broad sense, but yet I feel like I've yet to hear anything exactly like it before, which is quite an accomplishment at any rate for metal bands.And my favorite song: "Holy Symphony Of War" 
---- "After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2573 |
Written by Janne on 26.08.2008 at 21:46 Well, that's a hard pick. But it's probably the title track.
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| Janne Hugin Posts: 1721 |
3 votes, 3 different song. It shows how strong is this album.
---- -FOLK METAL HUNGARY-
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| Elio Red Nightmare Posts: 4920 |
Written by Janne on 27.08.2008 at 13:07 Right but here it is For the Revolution getting its 2nd vote.
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| Manzo Posts: 20 |
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| Arcesse Eum Posts: 268  |
Why did the production drop so significantly back down from Black Waltz?
---- As above, so below.
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2573 |
Written by Arcesse Eum on 02.11.2008 at 20:40 Did it?
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| Arcesse Eum Posts: 268 |
Written by K✞ulu on 02.11.2008 at 20:43 Yeh man, its way less full, the drums arent as heavy, the VST they triggered with the keyboards was infinitly better on Black Waltz -- everything about it just so much thinner.
---- As above, so below.
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2573 |
Written by Arcesse Eum on 03.11.2008 at 01:04 I don't dig the whole VST thing, but the production is pretty solid on this album, maybe (and only maybe) a little worse here than on the Black Waltz, but I seriously would say that.
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| ms68 Posts: 260  |
Written by Arcesse Eum on 03.11.2008 at 01:04 it's true the black waltz is a masterpiece and my favorite album. but for the revolution don't deserve 5.after i listened it i said like in flames, kalmah is dead too. but after listening more i rate it 9. u can find tracks like coward and outreme. these tracks aren't lesser than the black waltz's tracks. u should listen to this album more.
---- The more you eat, the more you shit No matter what you eat, it all turns to shit
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955  |
Good album.. better than ''They will return'' in my opinion. So not their worst effort to me. My album didn't have the Sepultura cover Damn Japan
----  ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| Bobby_Loggins Account deleted |
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| MétalNoir Fils du Lys Posts: 847  |
Never liked this album very much... It lacks shrieking guitars and the whole sound is monotonous and repetitive. 12 Gauge rocks though, much more in the vein of their older stuff! 
---- Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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| Janne Hugin Posts: 1721 |
Written by MétalNoir on 01.04.2010 at 01:04 yeah indeed the same with me. I haven't really known what to think about this album 'til 12 gauge was released. Now I can confidently say I don't like it very much. (though 'outremer' is a kick-ass song)
---- -FOLK METAL HUNGARY-
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| Oaken Hipster Posts: 1322  |
Holy Symphony Of War is kickass.
---- In that case, man is only air as well.
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62000  |
Therer are nothing to do whit swamps in this album, sorry man
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| 3rdWorld China was a neat Posts: 4367  |
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