Alamaailman Vasarat is known for their own breed of progressive folk music with accordeons, violins and a healthy dose of distorted guitars and macabre humour. It sounds like one of the best recipes and it is!. Yet as nadirauxpommes put it “It’s either that Alamaailman Vasarat inherently can not surprise anyone who’s heard their past works by this point, or they’ve simply toned it down.”

Their 4th album Huuro Kolkko is a concept album inspired by a Finnish fan named Richard Kolkko who had recently inherited a strange package of old photos, broken insect collection boxes, notes and a rugged journal from a distant relative Huuro Kolkko, a Finnish explorer from the early 1900’s:

“Huuro Kolkko was never recognized by his fellow scientists but nevertheless rambled many continents on his own without any official funding or promise of fame among public let alone his peers. During his travels, he made extensive studies of local cultures, drew maps of areas never visited by man and collected specimens of insects, flora and wild life. Mentioned in the journals are also some vague rumors of lost islands or even a small continent Huuro Kolkko supposedly found during his various travels. While it is somewhat unclear whether this actually happened or not, it surely makes a good story and this is what brought the unknown explorer and Alamaailman Vasarat together. Richard Kolkko, a big fan of Alamaailman Vasarat, knew that we also had our own imaginary continent called Vasaraasia (Hammer Asia, also a title of our debut album from 2000). Richard contacted Alamaailman Vasarat and showed some journals and notes of Huuro Kolkko. Needless to say, the band was immediately drawn to the subject. ”

Despite the amazing story Huuro Kolkko seems to suffer from some kind of listener fatigue for Vasarat fans thanks to the the amazing bar set by their previous records towering above them like Sergei fkn Bubka. The gradual toning down of the distortion since Käärmelautakunta doesn’t help and they sound like a tamer folk band sometimes with blunted edges. Although the music remains surreal, unconventional and rewarding, it sadly sounds the same to experienced ears.

Don’t be put off by the reviews though as Vasarat’s music still remains heads and shoulders above 99% of the musical output of any given time period and they’re really only competing with themselves. 3.5/5