Leading up to the end of the year, Revolver has asked some of our favorite artists to pick their Top Albums of 2012 and tell us why each record rules. Here, Kalle “Cane” Savijärvi (pictured left), guitarist of the Pagan-metal band Korpiklaani, selects his faves.
5. Neil Young, Americana
“Traditional songs turning into something totally different in Neil’s hands. No compromises. Neil is doing what ever he wants. Very strong album.”
4. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Last of a Dyin’ Breed
“Kings of Southern rock bringing a very good album again. After almost 40 years still rockin’. Three guitars together, just great.”
3. Slash, Apocalyptic Love
“Slash plays Les Paul with style. Rock and roll! Myles Kennedy doing good job on vocals.”
2. ZZ Top, La Futura
“Blues enough for my taste. Very good sounds. Billy Gibbons is one of my guitar idols.”
1. Neil Young, Psychedelic Pill
“I’ve been Neil Young fan over 20 years. This is what I’ve been waiting. Crazy Horse as its best.”
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It’s Tuesday–the day that albums come out–and this one sees new shit from In This Moment, Fozzy, the Faceless, Korpiklaani, Black Light Burns, and many more hitting stores. Check out the list of releases below and let us know which ones you have already or are planning to pick up.
- Acherontas/Nightbringer – The Ruins of Edom Split
- Black Light Burns - The Moment You Realize Yout’re Going To Fall
- The Chant - A Healing Place
- Darkness By Oath – Near Death Experience
- Deiphago – Satan Alpha Omega
- Doro – Under My Skin
- Downspirit – Bulletproof
- Dragony – Legends
- Dublin Death Patrol – DDP 4 Life Re-Release
- Dublin Death Patrol – Death Sentence
- Ephel Duath – On Death And Cosmos EP
- The Faceless - Autotheism
- The Forsaken - Beyond Redemption
- The Foreshadowing - Oionos Re-Release
- The Foreshadowing – Second World Re-Release
- A Forest Of Stars – A Shadowplay For Yesterdays
- Fozzy – Sin And Bones
- In This Moment – Blood
- Korpiklaani – Manala
- Locrian – The Clearing & The Final Epoch
- Loudness – Eve To Dawn
- Marty Friedman – Bad DNA Reissue
- Marty Friedman – Future Addict Reissue
- Marty Friedman – Loudspeaker Reissue
- Master – The New Elite
- Mountain Man - Two
- Necrovation - Necrovation
- Nuclear Death Terror - Chaos Reigns
- Oiltanker – Shadow of Greed/Crusades
- Poison Idea - The Fatal Erection Years Reissue
- Polarization – Chasing The Light
- Seth – Les Blessures de L’ame
- Sophicide - Perdition Of The Sublime
- Such Gold – Misadventures
- Texas Hippie Coalition – Peacemaker
- Xibalba - Hasta La Muerte
The lack of English lyrics suits the music on Ukon Wacka—vocalist Johan Järvelä’s yoik bellows makes these 10 ultra-melodic paeans to the pagan god Ukko sound even more authentic, even when they’re broken up by excited Spanish on the album’s obligatory boozer track “Tequila.” Traditional instruments like the flute and bagpipe are in heavy use, almost matching the crunchy guitars on stein-swingers like “Tuoppi Oltta”, while “Koivu Ja Täthi” maintains a sinister ax sound comparable to the battle hymns of fellow countrymen Ensiferum.
Even in its quieter moments, Ukon Wacka is vastly entertaining, trading pagan metal’s typical swords-and-sorcery histrionics for toasts and foot-tapping. The pace and textures of the album could be shaken up a bit—after eight tracks of break-neck violin and accordion, the ear craves a little groove—but if making metal fun is the game, then Korpiklaani remain undefeated as champions of their genre. Folk metal may come across as goofy at times, but Ukon Wacka proves it’s no joke. CHRIS KROVATIN
]]>70,000 Tons just got heavier! The metal cruise festival just added Finnish folk-metal crew Korpiklaani to its lineup, which also includes Amon Amarth, Obituary, and more! Click here for more details!
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