MUSIC REVIEW: Kiuas - “Samooja: Pyhiinvaellus” EP
For those of you who don’t know Kiuas, they were an extremely popular act in Finland from the early ‘00s through the early ‘10s, when they called it quits, presumably because guitarist/songwriter Mikko Salovaara couldn’t quite get the lineup exactly the way he wanted it. In the interim, he formed Daimonic, which was made up of some of the newer Kiuas members, with Salovaara on vocals this time around. However, when Kiuas’ original lineup said that they’d be interested in restarting the band, Daimonic seems to have faded by the wayside, at least for the time being. The resurgence began with some live shows at festivals, which then led to a live tour, and ultimately the release of a new EP entitled “Samooja: Pyhiinvaellus,” which was released on March 1st, 2024.
Check out the 2024 Off the Record Interview with Mikko Salovaara!
This paragraph is dedicated to my history with the band, so that you can compare your taste against mine. If you’re not interested, feel free to skip past this paragraph and head down to the review in proper!
Kiuas were one of the first bands I fell in love with when I moved to Finland back in 2009. A friend of mine (who you can nowadays hear in From Grotto!) was a big fan of Mikko Salovaara’s guitar work and recommended “To Excel and Ascend” to me, which immediately captured me for its awesome guitars, brilliant vocals, and outstanding backing atmosphere and symphonics. After that discovery, I fell completely in love with “The New Dark Age” and had to sink my teeth into their earlier releases. “Spirit of Ukko” is an incredible debut album, a little cheesy, but extremely fun, though I admit that “Reformation” didn’t really do it for me (though there are a couple of killer hits on it, like the tribute to Dimebag Darrel called “Bleeding Strings”). However, I recall going to see them at Henry’s Pub in Kuopio in 2010 while my partner and I were up north in Sotkamo during the promo tour for “Lustdriven” and I said that I would buy the album if I liked the show—needless to say, I went home with a copy. I remained a big fan and even attended their final show back in 2013 for Musicalypse, and was admittedly pretty devastated when I heard that they were calling it quits. I’ve since seen them during their resurrection at some festivals, opening for the big Battle Beast show at Jäähalli last year, and twice on their more recent tour as well. Suffice to say, I’ve been quite delighted to have them back!
Like Ensiferum before them, Kiuas seem to have followed their Finnish metal brethren out to sea with this new EP. The title translates to “Wanderer: Pilgrimage,” but with the EP beginning with “The Mariner’s Poem”—an instrumental track to set the stage and atmosphere—and the rest of the song titles, it seems that this Wanderer has hopped on a ship and set sail. The intro track starts things off on a bombastic and epic note—very cinematic in atmosphere, like music from a film or game soundtrack—and builds up nicely, with a wee hint of overture to it. It travels smoothly into the guitar riffing that I immediately recognized from a song at their last live show that vocalist Ilja Jalkanen had called “No More Warrior Soul for You.” Now going by the name “From the Anchorage,” this is a bangin’ first track with an epic dynamic push, magnificent backing tracks, and incredible vocals and instrumental work. It’s a wee bit more power metal than Kiuas have been in the past at times, but this adds for a nice bit of flavor… I chalk this up to Mikko Salovaara’s current tenure in Metal de Facto (who also just released their sophomore album this year). Really, this song is everything Kiuas used to be and more, making it so exciting to hear after a 10-year break.
That classic Mikko Salovaara guitar work is served up first in “The Pilgrimage,” which has a very old-&-new feel to it. Noteworthy also is the low end—when you notice it, you should notice that Teemu Tuominen on bass and Markku Näreneva are keeping things interesting! As I always say: never (ever!) skimp on the bass and drums! There’s a lot of that glorious Salovaara flavor in here, paired with the bluesy power of Ilja Jalkanen’s magnificent vocals. He’s always been able to weave a really enticing story with his voice and it was his loss that seemed to make the band fall apart… understandable, as I can’t imagine anyone being able to fill his shoes both regarding vocals and stage charisma. He’s kind of the whole package as a frontman and it doesn’t hurt that he sounds like his voice hasn’t aged a day in 10 years. This song also boasts one of those acoustic-driven C-parts, where Ilja starts singing in Finnish after a Finnish spoken-word whisper, which really takes me back to “Across the Snows,” which happens to be one of the band’s best songs (in my debatably humble opinion)! It ends on an instrumental outro, complete with the sounds of sea and gulls. Magnificent wins across the board so far!
The album wraps up with its best song (nice!), “Through Purgatory,” which got me so amped up when I first heard it that I had to stop what I was doing and go a little crazy. This track is so straight-up fucking awesome that I feel like I’ve used up my best adjectives and left myself with nothing for this track, which deserves all of the adjectives I’ve already used and more. It opens on acoustic guitar lines (always awesome when done by Salovaara), followed by Ilja’s vocals… that blues flare adds so much mood and passion into everything he sings. It’s like a rollercoaster of magnificent highs and ominous lows, capped off with a chorus that is absolutely way too awesome. Shout-out to Atte Tanskanen as well for the amazing keyboard sound (not just in this song, either). Truly, I need to constantly put this song on about seven times in a row so I can have solo mosh-pits around the house; I simply cannot sit still. Just listen to those last few lines from Ilja—these guys are wizards, outright, no question.
Ultimately, this EP is everything I dreamed it could be. It sounds like exactly the same band that I fell in love with back in 2009 and I am beyond excited to see that they’re back in action. It has everything I wanted: brilliant instrumental work, awesome backing tracks, insane guitar work, and top-notch vocals. I simply cannot complain, all I can do is beg for more, and as soon as possible! I’m sorry to say that I won’t be able to go to their show in Helsinki on the 23rd because it clashes with Sonata Arctica’s album release show, but maybe there’s a chance that I could get out to Turku… who knows, but if I can’t make this tour, rest assured that I’ll be at the next one!
Tracklist
The Mariner’s Poem
From the Anchorage
The Pilgrimage
Through Purgatory
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