Review written by David "Orcish Shredder" Hardy.

Well, let's cut to the chase: what hurts the most about this band is writing it, and the rest is as easy as a big pot of Vaseline! All by itself, without forcing it! That's it, you can go back to what you were doing! If you're still here and want to know more, we're going to take it easy because I've just come back from two weeks "off" with my kids at home, heavy meals and family reunions, so yes, I'm also entitled to take it easy!

The album, their first apparently if you don't count an EP released in 2020, is self-titled... as is often the case and I don't mind... why complicate the task? It's Finnish, it's super clean and it's really nice in spirit and execution. If I had to be a bit strict, I'd say that this album has the defects of its qualities. It's uniform. Not in the wearying sense, but I don't recognize strong or weak moments. It's an album you can play from track 1 to 8 or 8 to 1, or out of order, without experiencing a different listening pleasure or without feeling disturbed. Advantage as well as disadvantage - I'd even say, these days, more of an advantage than a disadvantage, but you need to know that. It's not an episodic adventure with a beginning and an end, it's "just a string of quality tracks."

Verse

So, in fact, we really find the right markers, which are a pleasure, sometimes a little too lightly, as for example on the track "Aikapommi" I was expecting some distortion on the voice to make it a little heavier and fatter at certain moments or a doubling with a cavernous voice, but no, they made the choice of clean, I also respect! I just have a problem with the advert for a Chinese social network at the end (humor).

The track "Soutaja" is a little different, with its very 90s "the Scorpions"-style intro, but it doesn't let itself fall asleep by going over a bit "pixies"-style. Depth is not provided by the singer's voice (Ville Hytönen), but by the guitar, which goes for the lower tones. Strangely enough, though the track is almost five minutes long, I found it short ... there's no fucking reason for it, but ... I was "singing in enhanced Yiddish" to the tune of the song when, bang, it was over! Ah ok ... too bad I'd got used to it!

I award the track entitled "Häiriösignaali" the title of best... filler! How can I put it, a quality all-rounder, basically, the track that won't change the color of the album, that doesn't add anything, that isn't sensational, BUT, that is really well done, that is flawless in itself, and that is very pleasant to the ear. It just lacks that little extra "twist" to make it a track in its own right. What he does, he does extremely well!

Chorus

Now we're getting to the point where you ask me if I liked it, and I say... YES! Clearly, I really enjoyed it, because it's perfectly in keeping with the style, probably a little conformist, but at least you know where you're going, there are no errors of taste, it's clean, it's fair, it's well constructed, and in the end, even if you're not surprised, you enjoy the trip and don't regret your time or your money! Honestly, go for it! And even if you don't understand a single word, the pleasure is transmitted - isn't that the main thing about music? And if Aunt Simone asks, you'll say you're taking Finnish! Just goes to show, they don't just produce pretty girls!

Final

Titles a notch above would be for me: "Aikapommi", "Loma" and "Soutaja". But I'll leave you to judge for yourselves, as it comes down to very little. A nice...

8.2

motivated by the unquestionable quality of the tracks, a flawless construction and a very clean post-production that lets you enjoy all the sounds and subtleties. Overall, Säteilijä's debut album is a very enjoyable stoner album that I highly recommend if you enjoy this particular subgenre.