Tag Archives: black metal

News

Finnish Blackened Death Metal band Saasta has released their new EP – Black | Death | Doom

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Promo pic: Saasta

Saasta‘s second production, “Black | Death | Doom” EP containing four songs, is a continuation of the “Crucial to None” LP released in November 2022. The EP was recorded in its entirety at Saasta’s rehearsal space in Kotka, Finland. Mixing and mastering of the EP was carried out by Mr. Ben Jones from England. The visual art for the EP is produced by Pla.g.u.e.

Musically, the release is significantly faster and more violent than the previous long play. The sound world has also changed a lot; already in the pre-production phase, we wanted to pay attention to rawness and brightness. In today’s extreme metal, the midrange of the bass guitar is typically driven down almost completely, and the bass is only a filler instrument in the lower register. We wanted to avoid this and tried to raise the bass to an equal element with the guitar, succeeding nicely and naturally here as well. It was very easy to raise the bass alongside the guitar also thanks to Janne Hietanen‘s heavy-handed playing style.

Vocalist Leevi Kärsämä, who has played live shows with Saasta for the past year, also brings a new sound to Saasta’s music, allowing Jokipii to focus on playing the guitar. Choosing Kärsämä as a vocalist has turned out to be an extremely good decision.

Drummer Jimi Lahtinen‘s increased self-confidence and arranging skills can be heard on the EP. The drum tracks recorded “in one fell swoop” style made the work of the other members very easy.

In full “Black | Death | Doom” is a more mature and finished package than the previous release. Saasta believes that with the EP it has finally found it’s style, both musically and visually.

Listen to the EP: https://push.fm/fl/saasta-blackdeathdoom

Watch the music video of “Black | Death | Doom“: https://youtu.be/FUCXIrHhj0Y

Saasta is:

Leevi Kärsämä – Vocals
Topias Jokipii – Guitar and backing vocals
Janne Hietanen – Bass
Jimi Lahtinen – Drums


Links:

https://www.saastaofficial.com/
https://saasta.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@saastaofficial2608

https://www.facebook.com/saastaofficial

https://www.instagram.com/saastaofficial/

Reviews

(review) Sathanas/DeathEpoch – Hellspawn Hegemony

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This is a split release of mighty two bands, five songs each delivered to this record. American Sathanas deliver five songs of raw mixture of black and thrash metal with black metal vocals which are a mix of growling and screaming, but you can understand most of what is being sung so that is another plus for the band. I like melodies and some catchy hooks guitars provide and there are some slower songs on this one like pumping ‘Defiled’, songs like ‘Hail Lucifer’ or ‘Jaws of Satan’ are to become your favorites. I can also hear a bit of Venom in Sathanas’ song structures, which is great.

DeathEpoch are hailing from Poland and this band delivers five songs on this record. This band creates dark and almost touchable thick atmosphere with their vision of black/death metal, but they also create eerie sounds with keyboard, samples and electronic which fits perfectly to the song structures like for example in awesome ‘B.D.’ All songs by DeathEpoch on this release are somehow made of initials like for example ‘D.W.’ (personal favorite) or ‘G.O.M.’. Vocals are very deep and very brutal like in death metal rather than black metal. Guitars create some epic melodies and blast beats create brutality with elements of war metal thrown in for good measure.

This is an excellent split release by two underground bands, but I somehow prefer Sathanas side of record more, but that is a matter of personal taste.

7,5/10 axes

News

Finnish Blackened Death Metal band Saasta releases first song and a music video from their upcoming EP!

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Photo: Saasta

Hailing from Kotka, Finland, Blackened Death Metal band Saasta will release their new EP “Black | Death | Doom” on December 5th 2023. The first single “Sickness” and music video of the opus in question is released on November 2nd. The band’s debut album “Crucial to None” was released in November 2022.

Founded together with the drummer Jimi Lahtinen, the band’s guitarist Topias Jokipii comments on the freshly released single: “The song presents a reborn, dirtier and in its own beautiful way, a more obnoxious kind of Saasta. After I shifted from a guitarist-singer to solely playing guitar, Mr Leevi Kärsämä had the guts to step in as a singer. This change gave Saasta a new life and the band truly found themselves, both musically and visually, and that can be clearly heard on the new release. The merciless playing style of the band’s bassist Janne Hietanen supports the music of a metal band with only one guitar perfectly, and thus, maybe even a little unorthodoxly, the bass is raised to be an equal instrument with the guitar, instead of presenting a steady, boring low register. The artwork of the EP describes perfectly the visual side of Saasta, which is incredibly important to us when playing live shows.”

Saasta has also released a music video for the single “Sickness”. The video is a merciless description of an individual fallen beyond the safety nets of society, and to what an extreme sickness of mind can lead to. 

Listen to the “Sickness” on music services: https://push.fm/fl/saasta-sickness
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Saasta is:

Leevi Kärsämä – Vocals
Topias Jokipii – Guitar and backing vocals
Janne Hietanen – Bass
Jimi Lahtinen – Drums


Links:

https://www.saastaofficial.com/
https://saasta.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@saastaofficial2608


Credits:

Mixing and Mastering – Ben Jones
Artwork for the single – Janne Hietanen
Artwork for the EP – Pla.g.u.e
Lead actor for “Sickness” – Otto Kuitunen
Videography – Meiju Mäkelä, Sampo Jokipii, Janne Hietanen
Video editing –  Janne Hietanen