Vera: Synestesia is once again a new discovery hailing from Finland. This quintet from Pori started under the name Myriad Emptiness but soon continued as Synestesia. They self-released a couple of EP’s, but the band had to interrupt its activities when every member had to join compulsory military services. After that they started for good and in November 2007 they signed a deal with Kampas Records, a label only releasing high level quality. It is also tenable for ‘Feeniks’, the first full length album of these Finns.
Synestesia plays melodic death metal with exquisite guitar skills. Vocals of Eero Kuusisto (in the beginning he played bass as well) are rough, a fine and agreeable grunt he has. The songs are regularly relished with dark spoken fragments, acoustic guitar parts and fetching vocal harmonies. A song that instantly grabs me is ‘Minun Hymyni’, especially the slightly melancholic chants (also a woman) are amazing! In ‘Kirkastaa Kasvosi’ we hear a brilliant guitar solo. As you may notice by the titles, all lyrics are in Finnish language. We are a bit used to Scandinavian bands that sing in their vernacular language by now and besides that we do not understand a word of it, it creates a mystical, mysterious atmosphere.
After several spins the songs appear to be very catchy with fetching melodies. The acoustic and instrumental ‘Merituuli’ is a break halfway and with any thrifty female vocals in ‘Lasialttan’ we get an extra melodious touch. The stamping, mid-paced ‘Tuli Palakoon’ which occludes the album is very epic and compelling, especially due to atmospheric choirs, a bit acoustic guitars and finally the sound of crackling fire. With ‘Feeniks’, Synestesia has made a strong debut, which makes you dream of the land of the thousand lakes every time you hear it. It is remarkable how much melancholy and melody these Finnish bands put into their extreme metal and they have a special gift for it.
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