The adventure continues for Suotana!
Two years after the first installment, the band composed of Ville Rautio (guitar), Pasi Portaankorva (guitar), Rauli Juopperi (drums), Tommi Neitola (keyboards), Tuomo Marttinen (vocals), and Rauli Alaruikka (bass, Iku-Turso) unveils Ounas II, still on Reaper Entertainment.
The album begins with The Flood (In Memoriam), where we seem to be moving underwater, accompanied by a chime, before the majestic tones of the keyboards come into play, finally joining a guitar before Foreverland opens the way for the entire band. We find the frenzied riffs and Tuomo’s roars leading the jerky march filled with leads and epic sounds supported by the keyboardist who responds to the guitarists before accelerating on the virulent Winter Visions, which offers much sharper tones. The Finnish roots are more than evident on this track, whether in the coldness of the rhythm section or in the haunting melodies with touches of folk, but also in the waves of rage that punctuate our journey to the impressive Twilight Stream. Once the introduction is over, the track remains in similar tones, oscillating between aggression and theatrical passages during which we feel completely captivated by the musicians’ sound, while the drums remain as effective as ever. However, the rhythm slows down on The Crowned King of Ancient Forest, which follows and offers a hypnotic introduction. The first growls are relatively disturbing, but the band returns to its usual style and carries us away once again, offering darker tones and even a touch of melancholy coupled with symphonic elements before returning to more joyful sounds on 1473 Ounas. The very long composition reinforces the epic side already very present in the first part, which is more aggressive, before a soothing break and then restarting the machine at full speed to meet Zoe Marie Federoff-Smerda (ex-Cradle of Filth), who adds a touch of sweetness to the song before a Dante-esque final followed by a cover of the well-known Hatebreeder by their late compatriots Children of Bodom, which fits like a glove with the wildest and most unbridled side of their universe. It’s a real pleasure to hear this already legendary riff to close the album!
With Ounas II, Suotana hits hard! While the first chapter was already widely acclaimed, the second confirms the band’s mastery, both in terms of pure rage and its imposing, icy atmosphere, which will soon resonate widely across Europe!
95/100