Band:	Ajattara
Album:	Kuolema
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	March 24, 2003
Guest review by:	Immortalist

01. Antakaa Elää
02. Surman Henki
03. Haureus
04. Huoran Alla
05. Ikiyössä
06. Musta Leski
07. Sielun Särkijä
08. Kituvan Kiitos
09. Helvetissä On Syntisen Taivas
10. Rauhassa

The second album of Ajattara, don't expect too much since the first album's songs all sounded the same, right? I have heard many people saying that Ajattara's songs, riffs and drums all sound the same. This is completely wrong, for the only thing similar in them is the pure simplicity and the dark atmosphere.

For those of you who don't know this band yet (I think this isn't one of the most well known black metal bands), I could tell that the band consists of three Finnish members, and the vocals are sung in Finnish. Another difference is also the drum work. Unlike many melodic and raw black metal bands nowadays, their drummer uses double bass quite rarely. They have got the original idea of Black Metal correct; create a dark atmosphere with strong guitar riffs and with slow tempo.

So, what happens when you start listening to the album? The dark sound fills your room, brutal growls rage and the keyboards are like a cherry on ice cream. In case you are Finnish (or just can speak and understand Finnish) then you will soon notice that the lyrics are twisted and sick. Exactly like Norwegian lyrics, these would lose all the power if they were translated into English. If you listen carefully, you can clearly notice that every track has one instrument in focus. For Surman Henki they are keyboards, for Haureus it's the guitar? and this is one of the most important things which makes each song differ from the others!

The disappointment of the album was the last song, Helvetissä on Syntisen Taivas. This is one of their first songs and the weak point is that they haven't written enough lyrics for it. It is definitely too long for the melody and lyrics as well as the longest song on the album (3:59). Not a long song, huh? Almost all songs on the album are only three minutes long, some even two. I would have liked to hear some longer songs from the album, but one thing is sure: these guys aren't wasting any disc space.

To sum up I could say that Ajattara is definitely worth checking out for any black metal fan. If you are sceptic, try downloading one song and then say if you liked it or not. If you didn't, then you won't like the others either. Recommended songs to check out: Antakaa Elää, Haureus Huoran Alla, Ikiyössä and Musta Leski.