
Streamlined shadows
-- Kaamos Warriors --
03/06/2020
Stijn Daneels

Album genres:
■ | Black metal |
■ | Dark metal |
Album artists:
■ | Mikko Ojala | Vocals, guitar, programming |
■ | Jani Moilanen | Guitar |
■ | Jyri Moilanen | Bass |
Review
written by Glenn “Terra Shredder” Van Bockstaele.
Kaamos
Warriors is a Finnish melodic black metal band formed in 2018. I had the privilege
to review their 2019 debut “Ikuisen Talven Sarastus” (read that review here: http://belgianmetalshredder.be/reviews/154) and later that same year the band
followed it up with a sequel “Shadows Of Northern Chaos.” Once again released
through Finnish record label Inverse Records.
First off,
there’re no Finnish tracks on “Shadows Of Northern Chaos” unlike “Ikuisen
Talven Sarastus” which did have a few songs entirely in Finnish. This new
Kaamos Warriors album is all in English. The album begins with the chilling
main riff of “Wolves in Storm,” that eventually increases in intensity thanks
to the vicious blast beats. Then comes “Chaos Walks the Earth,” which is a more
guitar-centered tune with the same blasts and crunchy vocals as in the
preceding track but this one does wrap up with a beautiful guitar solo. “Chaos
& Mayhem” speeds things up as it’s a short and frantic track that nicely
lives up to its name. “Ruined by Plague” slows down to thunderous riffs and
dark moody intersections.
The title track
of “Shadows of Northern Chaos” is one of the heaviest songs on the album with
pounding beats and vicious vocals only cooled down by some ambient piano
interludes hearkening back to the more atmospheric style of their previous
album. “Where Shadows Grow” also provides a throwback to Kaamos Warriors
earlier work, since it’s a longer song wherein the slow, multi-layered melodic
riffs are intertwined with chants and acoustics. “Ruins of Hope,” picks up the
pace again with faster drums and shrieking guitars and finally the album
beautifully ends with “Moon And Stars,” a 4-minute track which is almost
completely instrumental (except for one verse and some background roaring near
the end) and features a magnificent combo of soaring guitars, acoustics and
piano.
Both this
album and its predecessor “Ikuisen Talven Sarastus” were written around the
same time and I admit that this bothers me a bit. Don’t get me wrong, “Shadows
Of Northern Chaos” isn’t a bad release and while the production values are improved
there’s little new to be found here. In fact, “Shadows of Northern Chaos” is an
overall more streamlined release compared to the debut album. There’s more
emphasis on the traditional metal instruments and while those, along with the
gruff vocals, are still more than solid, I do feel this album could’ve been
more epic. Still, songs like the album’s title track and the excellent finale
“Moon And Stars” does show that Kaamos Warriors is still able to crank out some
beautifully atmospheric tunes.
70/100