You know how some people really don’t like the word “moist?” There’s an explicable-yet-incomprehensible element to it that makes people uncomfortable; an “I don’t get it, but I get it” element to the feeling that most everyone can follow, if not relate to. In that sense, it’s an excellent metaphor for Finland’s Oranssi Pazuzu and the psychedelic, avant-garde black metal they’ve been crafting since 2009. I previously reviewed Mestarin kynsi, their fifth full-length release, in 2020 and had a lot of trouble wrapping my head around the music; it was dense, unforgiving, and unpredictable, an album I both liked and disliked. While I think I put together a decent review at the time, I really had a hard time expressing that feeling. Over four years later, Oranssi Pazuzu return with Muuntautuja, a new challenge for my ears and mind. Do I like it? Do I understand it? Does it even matter?
Respectively, the answers are yes, I think so, and probably—while Oranssi Pazuzu remain as enigmatic as ever on Muuntautuja, the music is both darker and more straightforward, and as a result slightly less challenging than it’s been in the past. Mind you, the metal is still absolutely worthy of its album art, and it takes a whole lot of spins to even start to recall which song is which. Frantic drumming, manic guitar work, and incomprehensible vocals are accented with samples, symphonic elements, and “clean” intoning that give Oranssi Pazuzu a surprising amount of flexibility, leading to notable variance across Muuntautuja’s seven tracks. The title track, for instance, takes on an almost prog-like approach, opening with distorted, drumming and a sample that persists throughout the song. For a while, it hangs out in this mid-paced territory, all drums, synths, and vocals, before exploding into a lo-fi extravaganza of distorted shrieks, crushing riffs, and an oddball lead that evokes danger, anxiety, and tension. It never “fully” becomes black metal, but it is undeniably Oranssi Pazuzu.
In case my repeated use of “distortion” didn’t make it clear, the production on Muuntautuja is suffocating. Fuzz adorns every moment of every song, and no player is spared its wrath. What would normally be something I dislike works very well in this case, because the songs sound very good in dense, dark places. “Voitelu” is perhaps the best example, a song that sounds like it’s trying to give you claustrophobia. It is perhaps the most black metal of the bunch; its relentless insanity is broken only by the sudden introduction of haunting, ringing piano that gives it a faint essence of horror. It is followed by “Hautatuuli,” a false sense of safety that gives the bass a rare minute to shine before introducing haunting whispers that segue to a massive, creeping black metal crescendo that leans heavily on keys to give it a similarly horror-like motif. All of these tense, angry, “scary” moments are heavily benefitted by the all-consuming production style.
One drawback to this style, however, is that it doesn’t favor long songs as well as Oranssi Pazuzu have pulled off in the past. In particular, “Ikikäärme” struggles under its own weight, with lengthy piano, arpeggio, and, yes, suffocating black metal sections that all seem to take up more time than they need to. Here, the samples start to grate, and, rather than building tension, the lengthy creeping buildups just add to the song’s length. In a similar vein, closer “Vierivä usva” is essentially an atmospheric track that, despite its neat retro synths and terrific keyboard use, accomplishes very little over its five-minute runtime. With these two songs alone making up a full third of the album, Muuntautuja feels longer and more bloated than it needs to, despite a fairly succinct forty-two-minute runtime. I couldn’t say I think any songs are weak, but I do believe there is an over-reliance on atmosphere in the back half of the album.
To my ears, Muuntautuja is a notable improvement over Mestarin kynsi and a good example of how distortion, avant-garde songwriting, and elements of horror can make for strong, cathartic music. Nothing Oranssi Pazuzu does is predictable, but their ability to harness tension and imbue anguish into their compositions is a bright light in the dense, unending marsh that is Muuntautuja. I was skeptical, but Oranssi Pazuzu has convinced me there’s more to this style than I think. I will inevitably be drawn back for more.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Websites: oranssipazuzu.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/pages/Oranssi-pazuzu/58437793552
Releases Worldwide: October 11th, 2024
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