After five long years from their latest release, Finnish metallers Suotana have emerged straight from the everfrost with a new album ‘’Ounas I’’. This full-length release is an epic continuation of the journey its predecessor ‘’Land of the Ending Time’’ began in 2018, and propels the band to a new height. ‘’Ounas I’’ contains 41 freezing minutes of music, including five brand-new Suotana tracks and one ‘Suotanized’ version of Summoning’s “Land of the Dead”.
The album artwork captures the atmosphere of northern nature and landscapes from which the band was born. Guitarist and songwriter Ville Rautio states,”’Ounas I’ is a concept album which carries the listener through the ages, binding ancient history and the present day. The journey’s epic finale is a 13-minute mammoth of a song, ‘River Ounas’. This black metal-infused odyssey leads us to the current time, where preserving nature's diversity is becoming more relevant than ever before.”
Musically, the album introduces nuances while remaining firmly planted in familiar Suotana sounds, including melodic death metal, melodic black metal, and a dash of power metal. The most remarkable differences are the guests on the album. Keyboard player Veli-Matti Kananen (Kalmah) and female vocalist Mora contribute their own unique talents.
Originally founded in 2005 as guitarist Ville Rautio’s solo project, Suotana’s upward trajectory was not diminished by several line-up changes in the wake of their 2014 debut album, “Forgotten Soil Of This Land”. The sextet joined the Reaper Entertainment family and released two more energetic full-length albums to critical acclaim, “Frostrealm” (2015) and “Land Of The Ending Time” (2018). The current lineup includes vocalist Tuomo Marttinen, guitarist Pasi Portaankorva, keyboardist Tommi Neitola, bassist Rauli Alaruikka, and drummer Rauli Juopperi.
Suotana’s catalog contains a common thread: music and cover artwork are carefully interwoven to draw an impressive portrait of vast, deserted winter landscapes, whose gloomy atmosphere of oppressive loneliness runs like a heavy, dark band through the entire work.
