Let’s burn the world’s last dancefloor – Review of Turmion Kätilöt’s “Omen X”

For those like me who were enchanted by “Global Warning”, this new LP by Turmion Kätilöt represents an unprecedented raising of expectations. Harsh vocals jumping on the magnetic rhythm of 90s dance, an increasingly exciting concept of flashes in awakening and hallucination. It really seems that Turmion Kätilöt didn’t get it wrong, slightly changing the formula of the previous works.

“Totuus” (The Truth) is perhaps one of the best opening tracks I’ve heard this year. Finally, you can enjoy a rhythm that makes you exclaim: Turmion Kätilöt is much more than Rammstein from Karelia. A variegated score, which opens with bits from the wildest disco and implements a lively chorus in the background, without losing the bite of aggression. “Totuus” has all the best from the 90s era: did you remember the sound of the old PSX’s videogames?

Speaking of electronic spectacularity. “Gabriel” is the catchiest piece on the record, a fun pastiche, which will have its best moment in the live shows to come. In this way, with only the first two tracks, Turmion Kätilöt reaffirmed the pillars of their style, and at the same time managed to add a few more ingredients missing in “Global Warning”. I’m talking about the clarity in the sound pattern and the disco-industrial imprint, stronger than before.

Enter the game! “Pyhä Kolminaisuus” (The Holy Trinity) is a lilting march of cyber-holiness. Together with the following “Puoli Valtakuntaa” (Half The Kingdom) it completes the level-design of a system that could be defined as Rococore. A sensitive variation of sound, between low arpeggios and soaring basses, together with the inevitable duet, all these elements guarantee an indivisible experience. Like an A.I. picture, we stand in front of a meta-music journey, that speaks with the silences of bit orchestrations.

“Verestä Sokea” (Blinded By Blood) is an anthem of that serious irony of which only Turmion Kätilöt is capable. An exultant cheer of “Hey, Hey!” slips into moments of solo voice and drums, accompanied by the structural synth pad. A piece that generates that discotheque massacre effect, when you’re in the throes of euphoria, but you know very well that the fall is approaching. Then, my personal highlight: “Isä meidän” (Father of Ours). I can say that I have heard something similar only in the independent compositions of some Japanese vocaloid producers. For the uninitiated, vocaloids are real artificial voices, often involved in moral borderline themes. So, Turmion Kätilöt succeeds here where they fail in “Global Warning”. They go beyond the boundaries of the simple human voice and produce a variegated, eclectic, crazy piece that seems to be born from the mosaics of some software. But it’s all technique, technique, and pure, insane, yet conscious-deep fun.

“Käy Tanssiin” (Join the Dance) and the last track “Kuolettavia Vammoja” (Fatal Wounds) guarantee a vaccine against boredom. Two pieces located at the end of the work, two songs able to surprise thanks to soft and reasoned openings. The gloom of the lyrics is intertwined with a perfectly organized and balanced composite game, which has no intention of sacrificing energy. Something that instead happened in the previous opus, which had moments of greater refinement at the expense of immediacy.

In conclusion, “Omen X” is the omen we expected – it must be said! No weak moments, a flowing stream with exquisite pop-dictated cracks, but in a good way. An album that stimulates a manic hunger for listening. As if the last dancefloor in the world had opened up before our feet. Cities, humans, everything is burning, but we continue to jump, and our depths too!