### Kotiteollisuus: Kuolleen kukan nimi

#### 09/05/06 || Statik Majik

Heavy fucken music with a massive guitarsound.

That, my dear reader, is what this album is all about. The only downside for people outside Finland is the fact that these geezers sing in Finnish, which might take away the possible interest towards this band. Well, I’m a Finn and I generally hate Finnish language in metal music, but Kotiteollisuus happens to be one of the bands I’m eager to forgive for the use of this ugly language. Why? Because they do a fucken good job with it, really.

I think Jouni Hynynen is a talented vocalist and a lyrical fucken genious. And that’s definitely one of the strengths of this band: producing damn good lyrics — in our native language — and supporting ‘em with some absolutely killer music. Pretty much like Ajattara, with the exception of Ajattara leaning much more to the blacker side of metal than Kotiteollisuus. Well, in all honesty, there’s nothing even remotely “black” or even “death” about Kotiteollisuus. They’re “plain” heavy metal, if you ask me.

So what to expect from this band? Well, like stated above: pretty fucken good heavy metal. Or heavy rock, if you will. But that’s it, seriously. There’s nothing more to it. They’re not reinventing the wheel and I don’t see any reason why they should because they’re doing their shit so fucken well. What separates them from the masses is their professional touch. And the lyrics, I think. Although not everyone appreciates bands that write more or less intelligent and deep lyrics if the music is solid headbanging material, but Kotiteollisuus obviously has found a way that works for both them as a band and their fans. Well, I’m happy. And that’s all it takes because I’m the one writing this review in the first place.

I do have to say few words about Hynynen’s voice though: in most cases it fucken rocks, it has the “edge” required in heavier metal and he sounds very fucken pissed off when he yells. And he can also pull of some nice and clean vocals when needed. What (sometimes) puts a smile on my face though is when he at times recites/speaks certain parts in the songs, coz that mkes him sound a lot like M.A. Numminen (well, you need to be from Finland to fully understand the comparison) and that kind of “voice” couldn’t be further away from metal. You know, it’s almost… nasal. Well, erase the “almost”. I think it’s wierd that he manages to get that kind of “higher” voice, because generally Hynynen has a pretty low pair of vocal-chords. The first time my wife heard this album, she said the best way to describe it is “M.A. Numminen goes heavy”. And I have to say she’s not completely wrong. She rarely is.

Of all their releases, this one has the best production. “Helvetistä itään”, the successor to “Kuolleen kukan nimi”, is pretty close, but on this one everything is damn well thought-out, composed, performed, recorded and mixed. Even the album artwork is fucking cool. And by now you should know that I’m sucker for neat artwork.

“Kuolleen kukan nimi” is the best Kotiteollisuus album so far. Seriously. And one of the best albums Finland has offered during this millennium. Even if the title itself ain’t that special and makes even less sense in English (“The name of the dead flower”), the album rocks ( Note by The Lord: They should have entitled it “The name of the dead penis” ). There’s not a single weak track on this release. Not a single one, you hear? Only good and even better songs. Even the mandatory slower tracks on this disc are killer. And I’m one of the fuckers that usually hate slow tracks. But the strongest effort on this release is the first track, “Valtakunta”. Brilliant lyrics and a heavy-as fuck-song. I would say it’s pretty courageous to put the heaviest song for an album as the starter, but Kotiteollisuus pulls it off with style. The thing is, they don’t lose the touch even once on this album — even the slower tracks feels heavy.

I could go on forever praising this album, but I think I’ll try to wrap this up instead. I think I made my point already: I love it.

I’m very, very tempted to give ‘em 9 but I’m going to control myself a bit and look at the bigger picture (what-the-fuck-ever that means). The thing is, this band has everything it takes to create perfect albums, so I’m going to reserve higher scores to the day they actually release one.

8,5 /10.

- Information
- Released: 2002
- Label: Megamania
- Website: www.kotiteollisuus.com
- Band
- Hynynen: vocals, guitars
- Hongisto: bass
- Sinkkonen: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Valtakunta
- 02. Vuonna yksi ja kaksi
- 03. Meren mutaa
- 04. Rakastaa/ ei rakasta
- 05. Kielletyn puun hedelmä
- 06. Tuomittu
- 07. Kuolemanvakavaa
- 08. Jokin ihmisessä
- 09. Käärmeen pää
- 10. Talvi sydämessä
- 11. Satu peikoista
- 12. Alussa oli