Release date: 16th March 2018
I’ve been rather eagerly anticipating new material from Finnish melodic black metallers Hiidenhauta after seriously enjoying their last effort Noitia On Minun Sukun and thankfully their second full-length offering doesn’t disappoint. 1695 is a top notch piece of work that ticks a lot of the right boxes, and is an all-round great album.
The album is themed around the Great Famine of 1695-1697, which was Finland’s worst demographic catastrophe, which killed off about a third of the country’s entire population. On a purely musical sense, the album doesn’t deviate too far stylistically from Noitia On Minun Sukun, so it could perhaps be described as a somewhat safe release, but on the other hand it features nine seriously kickass tracks – which is the most important thing of all! Hiidenhauta power through 1695 with a relentless energy and it’s an album that will hold your interest right from the first notes to the final closing chords.
A song of particular note is Musta leipä, which is a dissonant song with a tremendous urgency to it. The piano line is sporadic and clashing, really making the song stand out, and even though on the surface it seems like a song that shouldn’t work, it really does. Everything seems to be contrasting against one another (the different vocal approaches are a great touch as well) and the chaos is awesome.
As a whole, Hiidenhauta have created another mighty piece of work – but with album number three, a little bit of experimentation could go a long way.
9/10
