Alase – ‘Vastaus’
Album Review By Adam McCann
Inverse Records/Atmospheric Metal
For Alase, their debut album ‘Vastaus’ has been over a year in the making. But far from endless takes and fiddling with mixes, Alase were hampered by losing drummer Janne Kusmin back to his parent band of Kalmah. However, a replacement was soon found in the shape of Toni Paananen of Malpractice fame and Alase could finally deliver their debut album.
Imagine getting a mixing pot and taking elements from bands such as Swallow the Sun, Katatonia, The Ocean and even A Perfect Circle and only then is it possible to begin seeing what Alase have cooked up with ‘Vastaus’. Fortunately, the music here isn’t served up in cacophony of musical disjointed disharmony; instead, this album delivers subtle atmospheric tones in with more progressive influences as clean and harsh vocals sung almost entirely in Finnish (with the exception of ‘Binary Stars’) share the work equally well. Yet, ‘Vastaus’ feels like a rather slow start, ethereal tracks like ‘Osa Minua’ dance in and out of conscious listening and whilst decent, it is the harsh vocals of ‘Vapaaksi Merkitty’ which push this album along, reaching an enjoyable pinnacle with ‘Riisuttu’ and ‘Haukka’.
‘Vastaus’ is very good place to start for this band and it can’t be helped thinking that this band can only improve with each release as Alase has the potential to offer so much more.
Rating : 60/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
