Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Metal Hammer magazine has compiled a list of the ten most acclaimed black metal albums of the decade, as per Inferno. Havukruunu‘s “Tavastland” is included, and it also achieved a high ranking in the magazine’s annual overall poll.
The magazine’s editorial team characterizes the sixth album by the Finnish band as posing the question, “What if Iron Maiden were trve?” and providing an answer.
While Havukruunu maintains a dedicated cult following, the album is suggested to warrant recognition from mainstream audiences as well.
Additional notable albums featured by the magazine include Gaahls Wyrd‘s “Braiding the Stories”, Deafheaven‘s “Lonely People With Power”, Blackbraid‘s “Blackbraid III”, and Cradle of Filth‘s T”he Screaming of the Valkyries”.
After three albums, the pieces of the puzzle fit, and Havukruunu returns with a vengeance. The sorrowful guitars of Stefa and Bootleg-Henkka draw threatening dark shadows on the wall, Kostajainen’s drum bombardment pulses like embers of a dying fire in the hearth. All the while, Humö’s bass guitar is clanking and wailing like the icy wind rattling windows and banging walls as Stefa roars and channels messages from the netherworld or preaches wisdom of ancient days, backed by a choir.
Lords of Hell smile approvingly as the flames of hatred and cunning of their beloved sons drowns a dying old world, and the heart of the earth trembles the birth of the new and weird. Havukruunu is the spirit of freedom, the harbinger of oblivion, and it tells you: “Fly, You Fools!”
Elaborates Stefa on the album’s theme:
“Tavastland” tells how in 1237 the Tavastians rose in a rebellion against the church of Christ and drove the popes naked into the frost to die. “Tavastland” reveals our fathers’ centuries old sins and lies of consolation. “Tavastland” speaks of him, who has become a prisoner of his home, alienated from the land of the forest and is now afraid of the dark with all lights on, surrounded by his smart devices. “Tavastland” tells about the freedom we lost. “Tavastland” haunts its listener to the grave, and I will personally open that grave one bleak night and steal the fading light of your sempiternal soul.
