Iätön – Korpimaille [Demo]

Following the release of their first demo ‘Loitsutulet’ I lauded the Finns in Iätön for delivering harsh and haunting Black Metal in the vein of Barathrum and Korgonthurus mixed with a dash of Burzum and 90’s Scandinavian Black Metal. Barely half a year later, the band returns to consolidate that praise with the second demo ‘Korpimaille’, this time released through Korpituli Productions.

On their sophomore release, the band proves to not sit still and forward their style. Having said that, the third track ‘Tähdet hänen kruununsa’ is the mostly in line with ‘Loitsutulet’ in terms of style, presenting a gloomy track that has a threatening and suffocating aura through its crippling pace. The song continues to build atmosphere as the drums intensify, but it’s mostly the enchanting melancholic melody and haunting keys draped upon the Doom-laden pace that mesmerize. The song is a beautiful and slower break in the middle of the demo, as the other two tracks present the band from a more menacing and gnarly side.

While the initial moments of ‘Luonnon alttarilla’ are more midpaced with accompanying background keyboards, the song builds into a more ferocious tempo in which the rawness of the guitars fully excels. While ‘Loitsutulet’ wasn’t exactly devoid of tempo, the pace on ‘Korpimaille’ is substantially higher. Despite the enhanced pace, the music is still plenty dynamic, alternating between more moody sections and the more intense tempo escalations. While the rapsy shrieks dominate the vocals, clean vocals make their return and together with clean strumming guitars gives it a distant Bathory vibe and perhaps a hints of Tormentor’s classic track ‘Elisabeth Bathory’. Also in the closing track the tempo is more urgent, with the keyboards adding accents upon the piercing soundscape. With a more hidden melody, the song still retains its mesmerizing features, although in a more forceful manner than before.

With an overall shriller sound and increased pace, ‘Korpimaille’ mostly shows a sharper and colder side of Iätön. Even though my favorite track out of the three (excluding the intro) is the slower ‘Tähdet hänen kruununsa’, this more furious approach manages to uphold the promise that Iätön showed on their debut demo. Definitely worth hunting for the demo tape if you like your Black Metal icy, moody and raw.