dingdingdong
Is this the best record of 2023? Probably. But what does this even mean? If This Heat would have been around after Black Metal was invented, would they have bought this record? I have no idea. Absolutely fantastic music it is!
"The Finnish quartet fuse post-punk, cosmic music, and black metal into a heady brew that just gets weirder and weirder, deeper and deeper, darker and darker" -The Quietus album of the week
The music of Musta Huone, Ville-Matti Koskiniemi (guitar & vocals), Joonas Paasiala (drums), Santeri Paasiala (bass), & Pietu Arvola (synths and noise) is difficult to pin down. What started off in mid-2010s as a primitive lo-fi duo drawing from punk and black metal influences, has developed into a free-roaming hybrid mutation soaking inspiration from kraut rock, 90’s alternative and noise rock and experimental electronic music.
On their sophomore album Valosaasteen sekaan, Musta Huone steps out from the murky nightside themes towards the sun – however, in stark contrast to one’s expectations, the light involved triggers unwanted side effects on a spectrum ranging from sleep deprivation and mild hallucinations to pure lunacy.
The album starts off with “Peremmälle sisään”, a piece in which uncanny 1960s mall muzak is mangled by a reel tape loop. The introductory track briefly lulls the listener to a hazy journey before chaos ensues in the kraut rock free-fall manifested in “Heijasteet”. Meanwhile the title track “Valosaasteen sekaan” borrows musical and lyrical ideas from both Death Grips as well as legendary Finnish schlager band Souvarit.
The music video for the album’s debut single, ”Aurinko, Aurinko” sums the album’s mental landscape meticulously: consisting of found footage VHS material from 1992 in which a seemingly innocuous and sunny Las Palmas beach party turns into an acid trip gone very weird, Musta Huone’s music is fundamentally at its core a maelstrom blurring the borders between bliss and madness.
Ville-Matti describes what the band experienced during the album’s writing process: “Valosaasteen sekaan is an illustrous example of the word ‘chaos’, as that what both the creative process and its makers consisted of during the album’s making. The album captures the time period of the post-covid mental landscape of the band clearly. The raw and imperfect sound heard throughout the album is a clear contradiction to our debut album Hälve/Huove”.
A ubiquitous theme of coming into terms with loss and solitude is reflected through the whole album, buried under deliberately ambiguous lyrics. The lyrics have come together slowly, with ideas being soaked from conversations with grandmother and the fallout of a relationship, as well as the Huygens-Fresnel principle and listening to radio essays pondering the meaning of time while traveling somewhere in the countryside of Finland.
Vesa Hoikka guests on Valosaasteen sekaan, providing baritone and tenor saxophones that further expand the frenetic music palette of the band. The album was recorded between May and December 2022 in Helsinki at Artlab and the band’s own studio, as well as at a cabin in Anttola.
The sonic trajectory of the band can be traced to their whereabouts: based in Helsinki, but with all members are originally from Rovaniemi – the ”capital” of Lapland – a peculiar type of northern melancholy has always been in the undercurrent of Musta Huone’s sound. This mood, though more buried under raw and frenetic power on their latest records, still persists.
credits
released November 24, 2023
Lyrics: Ville-Matti Koskiniemi
Compositions and arrangements: Musta Huone
Recording: Sakari Kumpula and Musta Huone
Mixing: Sakari Kumpula
Mastering: Joshua Stevenson
The music of Musta Huone, is difficult to pin down. What started off in mid-2010s as primitive lo-fidelity rock soaked in
punk and black metal influences, has developed into a free-roaming hybrid mutation drawing inspiration from kraut rock, 90’s alternative and noise rock and experimental electronic music....more
supported by 19 fans who also own “Valosaasteen sekaan”
This album is truly one of my favorite as it makes me think about the act of forgetting something when you don't want to. You can't control it and makes you feel miserable. This truly makes me enjoy the memories I can remember because there will be a point in time where it will be gone. tenr3d