Any Colour You Like With the seemingly explosive power of Opeth, and the more subtle nuances of prog rock, Finland's Ikuinen Kaamos bursts onto the Tech Metal scene with their 2008 EP, Closure.

Upon first listen I almost shouted "OPETH" after a few seconds. The comparison between the two is not hard to hear, and nor is this necessarily a bad thing. The opening track 'Closure' features a flurry of buzzing guitars, often angular and angry, but at times more melodic and soothing. Mixed in with this are small acoustic and ambient breaks that showcase a deeper sense of maturity than your average death metal band. Vocally, you have your standard death/black metal growls, and occasionally some pretty decent clean vocals thrown into the mix. Again, this diversity of sound across the 27 minutes of the EP is refreshing to hear from an extreme metal perspective. The second track, 'Your Gallows' is again, another melodic monster that relies on faster tempo riffing, the occasional blastbeat and typically guttural vocals. 'The Absence' ties the EP off with a 13 minute epic, that showcases all the promise Ikuinen Kaamos has. From lovely melodic guitar work, to furious black metal flurries, Opeth-esqe solos and some clean vocal sections, helps the track to be the most impressive and memorable on the EP.

For the promise that this release shows, it does come across to an extent as prog/death metal by numbers. It is fairly predictable to any serious listener of the genre, and never really develops any unique atmosphere or conceptual purpose. Despite this, Ikuinen Kaamos proves that you can create interesting and powerful music, that blends death metal, black metal and proggy atmospherics. Watch this space.

J-Man Progressive melodic death metal from Nordic countries is a genre that is divided into two main camps: innovative and truly masterful groups like Edge of Sanity and Opeth, along with countless uninspired clones trying to relive the glory days of progressive melodeath. Ikuinen Kaamos is nowhere near the musical prowess of the masters of the genre, but they wouldn't sit comfortably next to the countless Opeth clones out there either.

Closure is a 2008 EP release from this Finnish quintet, released two years after their 2006 debut full-length The Forlorn. The band, while firmly rooted in traditional progressive melodeath, has their own distinct sound that will stand out to even experienced prog metal fans. The sound is similar to that of Opeth, but Ikuinen Kaamos relies more heavily on modern keyboard sounds and has fewer acoustic elements. If Opeth were to ditch most of their 70's blues and folk rock influences, they would sound a lot like Ikuinen Kaamos. All in all, if you like progressive death metal on the less extreme end, Closure should appeal to you.

This EP is 27:48, which is a pretty great length for an EP. It's not too short, but it isn't quite the length of an album either. This gives you a pretty good sample of this band. Closure is 3 tracks, two of which are well over 8 minutes. The songs are pretty epic and are very dynamic and powerful. There is rarely a time when the music isn't extremely captivating. The first song, Closure, has a nice prog rock-dominated opening with clean vocals, and it only gets better from there. Your Gallows is the heaviest song, with some very dark music throughout. The Absence is the real treat on this EP for me. There is a doom metal influence throughout the track, filled with proggy instrumental interludes and powerful vocals. This is twelve-and-a-half minutes of pure excellence.

The musicians play as a very tight unit, and are all very talented. I'm not sure who plays keyboards, but they really add another dimension to the music. A special note goes out to the vocalist Risto Herranen. He wasn't on the first album from Ikuinen Kaamos, but he sure does a great job here! His growls are fantastic (as are his black metal screeches), and his clean voice is filled with pure bliss.

The production is fantastic. Powerful when it needs to be, yet clean and quiet during the softer sections. This is a prefect mix for this type of progressive death metal.

Conclusion:

Ikuinen Kaamos is a band I've only become acquainted with recently, and I look forward to buying and reviewing their other releases. Closure is a really promising EP, and considering the band has generously offered is as a free download from their official website, this really should be given a try by anyone interested in progressive death metal. I'll give this highly recommendable (and free) EP a 3.5 star rating. If you like progressive melodic death metal, don't miss out on this one!