It may sound like a joke on paper. A Finnish band with a heavy metal name (The tongue twister Alamaailman Vasarat literally means Hamers From The Underworld) who say they play kebab-kosher-jazz-film-traffic-punk music. How does that sound? Alamaailman Vasarat plays fully instrumental compositions. Sometimes those pieces are dark and ominous, at other times swinging and humorous. The band has a full
… acoustic instrumentation (saxophone, trumpet, two cellos, pedal organ, drums) but manages to create a wall of sound with which they blow away many electric bands. Each song on Maahan is a world in itself. A klezmer melody is the starting point for a number of tracks, but in Helmi Otsalla this Yiddish folk music is played on an overdriven cello. In the hands of Alamaailman Vasarat, influences from Scandinavia, Middle East, Eastern Europe and jazz effortlessly merge. There are more bands that take such an eclectic approach, but often this results in a varied but predictable collage of music. Alamaailman Vasarat is more than the sum of its parts and a sound is brewed from the various influences that is unmistakably their own. Maahan is food for adventurous music lovers. (PdK) Maahan is food for adventurous music lovers. (PdK) Maahan is food for adventurous music lovers. (PdK)more
