Qwälen - Unohdan sinut

The house is on fire, and there's no key on the door.

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on December 21st, 2022) 

Despite the two genres occupying different spaces in the modern day, it’s no secret that punk and metal flirted with each other a lot in their heydays. Whether it’d be its latent influence on thrash and some early NWOBHM, or some more rollicking and extreme stuff like Motörhead and Bathory, there’s been a lot of crossbreeding between the two. Which makes it all the nicer when the two are brought back together 40 years later, both having at this point become full-fledged genres with subgenres of their own. Qwälen, and their debut, Unohdan Sinut is one such case, an album that combines two sounds in a way that wouldn’t have been possible without such a long history to look upon.
As we’ve already established, Unohdan Sinut is a stylistic marriage of metal and punk, more specifically the black and crust variations respectively. It’s a uniquely corrosive mixture that we sadly don’t see enough of, and Qwälen definitely knows how to write some mean tracks in this vein. Throughout the 30-minute runtime the listener is being assailed by a mixture of tremolo riffs, punk beats and chords, all of which serve as the release’s bread and butter. Topping all that off is an appropriately unhinged vocal performance by Eetu Viita, whose choked howling further increases the music’s chaotic factor. Every song here, despite their relatively long lengths, manages to maintain a feeling of momentum and intensity without feeling like they drag a lot or that they’re running out of steam. Whether it’s the explosive introduction of “Pimeä tila”, the thrashiness of “Polku”, or the downtempo beatdown of “Han ei tule koskaan”, the band is laser-focused on providing a raw experience and going straight for the jugular 100% of the time, resulting in 30-minutes that go by surprisingly fast.
Which brings me to my next point, and this album’s Achilles’ heel, that being its consistency. Now, when I say consistency I don’t mean that things fall apart halfway through or anything, but the fact that for the most part Unohdan Sinut is a bit of a one-trick pony. Most of its runtime is spent running through the aforementioned tremolo riffs and punky beats and chords, with very few curveballs being thrown at the listener. Moments like the bass intro on the aforementioned “Han ei tule koskaan”, the moody arpeggios on the title track, and the huge breakdown at the end of “Temppeli” are few and far in between, leading to songs running together, despite them not being necessarily bad. Obviously one can’t expect elaborate song structures and technical acrobatics in a release within this niche, but a little more variation wouldn’t hurt.
The sonic approach Qwälen employs is also quite robust, and serves the music’s overwhelming intensity perfectly. The sound can very well be described as punk being filtered through a black metal lens, with the roaring bass being audible constantly, on occasion being louder than the trebly guitars themselves, whereas the drums are snappy and with a lot of punch to them, perfect for the beats being played here. The production is great, bringing the most out of the compositions, and frankly I wouldn’t mind seeing this particular sound appear in other types of black metal releases.
On the whole, Unohdan Sinut is a solid, if slightly monotonous release. For how energetic it is, there are few moments that manage to have any sort of long-term impact on the listener. Nevertheless, its brevity works in its favour, and it serves as a nice palate cleanser when all your main listening habits consist of more elaborate stuff. Qwälen’s a promising band, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds for them.
Highlights: Pimeä tila, Han ei tule koskaan, Unohdan sinut, Temppeli

Rating: 80% 

  

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