Marrasmieli/Martaiden mailta/Naturmacht Productions/2022 Full Length Review

 

  Finland's  Marrasmieli  has  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  shows  the  music  going  for  more  of  a  melodic  and  folk  influenced  form  of  pagan  black  metal  and  this  is  a review  of  their  2022  album  "Martaiden  mailta"  which  will  be  released  in  April  by  Naturmacht  Productions.  

  A  very  nature  orientated  sound  starts  off  the  album  before  adding  in  some  keyboards  which  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  songs  at  times.  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  which  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  raw  feeling.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  while  some  songs  also  bring  in  accordion's,  violins  and  elements  of  folk  music.  Vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  along  with  most  of  the  tracks  also  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  most  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  album  also  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.  Acoustic  guitars  are  also  added  on  some  of  the  songs  as  well  as  the  nature  sounds  also  returning  on  some  of  the  later  tracks,  growls  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  album  and  spoken  word  parts,  whispers  and  clean  pagan  vocals  can  also  be  heard  briefly  towards  the  end.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  nature  and  paganism  themes.    

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Marrasmieli  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  and  folk  influenced  pagan  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Forest  Of  My  Soul"  and  "The  Oaks  Of  England".  8  out  of  10.

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Marrasmieli/Between Land And Sky/Naturmacht Productions/2020 CD Review

  Marrasmieli  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  has  been   featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  very melodic  form  of  pagan  black  metal  with  some  elements  of  folk  music  and  this  is  a  review  of  their 2020 album  'Between  land  And  Sky"  which  will  be  released  on  January  27th  by  Naturmacht  Productions.

  A  nature  orientated  intro  starts  off  the  album  while  also  introducing  flutes  onto  the  recording  which  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  songs.  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  tremolo picking  can  be  heard  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  raw  feeling.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.  Vocals  are  mostly  grim  sounding  black  emtal  screams  along  with  the  riffs  also  adding  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  as  well a s  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Folk music  elements  are  also  utilized  at  times  along  with  the  songs  also  adding  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.  Acoustic  guitars  and  synths  are  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  clean  pagan  vocals  can  also  be  heard,.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  a  mixture  of  English  and  Finnish  and  cover  paganism  and  nature  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Marrasmieli  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  pagan  black  metal  with  some  folk  music  elements,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Embrace  The  Eternal"  and  "The  Ardent  Passage".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvhn6bOzXGo        

Marrasmieli Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

Marrasmieli was formed in early 2018 with the aim to create metal music inspired by nature, mythology and days of old. There’s three individuals in our band: Nattvind on vocals and drums, Zannibal on guitars and Maelgor on bass. Our music is atmospheric and epic and we also utilize instruments outside of the metal genre in our music such as flutes and acoustic guitars. We don’t preferably want to lock ourselves into any metal genre but one could describe our music as folk/black metal.

2.You have an ep coming out during the end of September, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on this recording?

When we started working on the songs the only thing we had planned was that it would be "something like black/folk metal". Zannibal wrote both of the songs for the EP, and when he started (with "What Nature Fears") his idea was trying to mix Burzum-like ambient black metal with folk. However, as the song progressed it became more melodic and catchy. It was soon obvious that it's not going to be anything like Burzum (altho you can still hear the Burzum influence in the monotonous intro of What Nature Fears). "Marrasmieli" was the second song we did and it was a more straightforward process. Zannibal was just jamming on acoustic guitar when he came up with the chord main progression and after that everything just came along naturally.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

We don't have any strict rules for the lyrics, as long as they they somewhat fit the aforementioned themes. "Marrasmieli" was such a melodic and catchy song that it felt like a perfect song to be our band's title track. "What Nature Fears" was a bit more difficult to write. It's a long song but you can fit surprisingly little text there. At the time Zannibal was reading a Lovecraft collection and so he decided to try if he could make a little Lovecraftian story that fits the folk theme.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Marrasmieli'?

It’s a combination of two Finnish words. Marras is an old word for the word ”death” but Finns associate it with marraskuu which is November in Finnish and therefore wakes feelings of coldness and winter. Mieli means spirit, mood or mind. There’s not any special meaning behind the name. It’s just a name that represents the feelings that we want to invoke with our music.

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the ep cover?

It's simply a photo from a small local nature reserve taken by Zannibal.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

We haven’t played any shows yet. We have just been concentrating on creating music and getting our EP out. But we guess that our live shows would offer something more than your average metal shows.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the ep is released?

Not at the moment but who knows what the future will bring. We would need more people in our band at least for live shows.

8.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of folk, pagan and black metal?

Well our EP isn’t out yet so we don’t know the full reaction yet. But our EP has been getting really good reviews and what music people have heard from it they have been very pleased.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

The new material that we have written pretty much continues in the same vein as the EP but there are new elements in it as well. We want to keep our music evolving and getting better all the time even if the main inspiration behind it remains the same. But the main musical direction with this band will always be metal even though we are influenced by music outside of metal too.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Mainly folk metal and black metal. Moonsorrow is one of our all-time favorites. Some other bands that have influenced us during our lives are for example Darkthrone, Agalloch, Burzum, Turisas, Wintersun, Panopticon, Summoning….. The list could go on forever. We’re all open-minded when it comes to music but metal still gets consumed the most in our band. You can find something good in all genres though. Except Finnish reggae.

11.How would you describe your views on Paganism?

To us paganism means respecting nature and the place we live in. Embracing ourselves us as part of a bigger entity.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Thanks a lot for the interview and for reading it! Make sure to check out our debut EP Marrasmieli which is coming out on the 29th of September through Naturmacht Productions. If you want to support us you can go check us out on Facebook and give us a like. The future of Marrasmieli seems very bright and productive so stay tuned for our future music. Cheers and kippis!

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Marrasmieli/Self Titled/Naturmacht Productions/2018 EP Review

  Marrasmieli  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  very  melodic  form  of  pagan  black  metal  with  elements  of  folk  music  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2018  ep  which  will  be  released  on  September  29th  by  Naturmacht  Productions.

  Nature  sound s start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  a  very  fast,  raw  and  melodic  musical  direction  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  while  epic  sounding  synths  can  also  be  heard  in  the  background  along  with  some  folk  instruments  also  being  used  at  times.

  Vocals  are  mostly  grim  black  metal  screams  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  both  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style,  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  briefly.

  Marrasmieli  plays  a  style  of  pagan  black  metal  that  is  very  raw,  melodic,  atmospheric  and  epic  sounding  while  also  adding  in  elements  of  folk  music  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  paganism a nd  nature  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Marrasmieli  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  pagan  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "What  Nature  Fears".  8  out  of  10.   

https://www.facebook.com/marrasmieli/?ref=br_rs