When I heard the word Sielunvihollinen I knew the band was Finnish, and I thought I had a vague recollection of having heard them before. Turns out I was wrong and Sielunvihollinen was the name of the album by another Finnish band Forgjord. Sielunvihollinen means Enemy of the Soul in Finnish (Finnish grammar is no doubt a bitch), and Teloituskasky is translated as Executioner. Finnish Enemy of the Soul band just delivered an album titled Executioner, this can only mean black metal … and of course it is.

Sielunvihollinen does not fool around with their black metal style. Traditional old school black metal, not frozen in terms of sound but fiery and earthy, Teloituskasky will appeal to many a fan from Taake to Horna. Tulen Kaste and the title track propel nasty, scorching blackened grind, unrelenting in its intensity with screaming vocals. Tulen Kaste sees quite a bit of blasting towards the end, but the band doesn’t abuse its drumkit. Yet some songs surprise here. After pitter patter opening rhythms on Murtunut Peili melodic progression pops in momentarily, only to explode with a roaring melody in the chorus, both catchy and triumphant. Varjot also does its pouring of the soul with another sincere melody, going from punky beat to blasting. Varjot is seriously feet tapping and head bobbing inducing, and seals the album to be equal part brutal, romantic, very authentic and undeniably Finnish. Straightforward songs like Kahleidenkatkoja have their dreamy sections, and Hukkuneet is even slower, with rising dreamy waves and almost beautiful wistful moments. Further, if you strip the veneer of all brutality and distortion in Noitavaino, one can hear an almost Korpiklaani melody underneath. Folky black metal Sielunvihollinen is not, but tunes like Noitavaino reach back into the band’s ethnic background, with blizzarding guitar riffs buzzing over raging double bass.

For you not to consider them soft, the band closes with Usvan Tuoma, where horns are up and are totally thrown in your face, but it is the album’s depth that I appreciated in the end. Being not a one trick pony leads to more interest in re-listening to Teloituskasky, and that, in turn, made me discover even more of the album’s fiery depth and grinding melodies. The songs do tend to linger a little, a few edits would have led to even more focus and concentration, but this is one solid traditional Finnish black metal album which should appeal to all fans in the aforementioned realm.