Fleshpress – Hulluuden Muuri

Fleshpress
Hulluuden Muuri – 2017

According to Mikko, Fleshpress is experimental psychedelic sludge doom. It's quite a mouthful, but it's surprisingly accurate.

For some reason, I was expecting something much more traditional, à la modern popular sludge, but Hulluuden Muuri is nothing of the sort. The emphasis put on dissonance and weird synth additions gives it a whole new identity. Interesting rythms and strange structures float and collide, the music twisting to a chaotic beat, almost like a liquid.

This might be Mikko's best display of musicianship so far, with tastefully written dissonance and angular riffs. While far from being Deathspell Omega-level insane riffage, Fleshpress remains an unconventional album. The drumwork is worth a quick note, as following whatever weird patterns cooked up on the strings has to be extremely challenging.

There is no fear of long introductions, such as the one in Huluuden Viiltävä Lasipinta, which builds up a great atmosphere for the following riffs. This specific section is quite evocative, and I felt the cold humidity of the dungeon floor as I listened to a 50s horror movie soundtrack coming from a broken radio in the next room, waiting for the wails to stop and my turn to come. On a similar note, while the 2 minute interlude was a classic « reversed demon voices » part, Mikko managed to keep it somewhat subtle and less kitsch – mostly due to timing and giving breathing space.

Hulluuden Muuri ends with a 12 minute soon-to-be-classic epic, with more emphasis on the blackened elements – blasts, tremolo picking and disgusting chords. This song in particular turned out to be quite catastrophic in sound, giving me visions of bleak futures filled with the charred remains of razed cities, despaired grafiti in forgotten languages and the rubble of once-venerated monuments.

Giuseppe Fitzsimmons

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