Horna- Ääniä Yössä

Artist: Horna
Album: Ääniä Yössä
Label: Debemur Morti

Horna is a name that any fan of real black metal should be familiar with. This album was recorded by only two members of Horna, Shatraug and Corvus in two seperate recording sessions in 2004. Even though Ääniä Yössä (which I might be wrong here, but I think it translates to voices in the night) was recorded back in 2004, for some unknown wasn't released until 2006 on France's Debemur Morti Productions. This is four songs clocking in at almost 45 minutes and is basically a concept album about the Yersinia Pestis curse, or better known as, the bubonic plague that decimated Europe between 1347 and 1353. The vocals, which are sung entirely in Finnish, are performed by Corvus and through his screeches and screams he is able to convey an image of death and despair similar to the way the Europeans must have felt when the Black Death took over. On these four tracks the guitar riffs are sometimes played repetitively throughout by Shatraug and through them he is able to give off a very bleak atmosphere that fits the overall theme of the album perfectly. The most extreme example of this is the 20+ minute title track which has very few riffs which seem to drone on endlessly pounding away at the very depths of your sanity. I think Horna did a perfect job at getting across the true nature of the bubonic plague on Ääniä Yössä. Definitely pick this one up from Debemur Morti or Moribund in the US!