The Album Club: "SLK" by Stam1na
 

https://www.metal-archives.com/image...00530.jpg?4546

Into 2018 we go, and MicShazam's album is the one to take us there. Debate, rate, comment, review and vote on this album here.

This is one of my top 10 albums of all times, across all genres, and I place it especially highly withing the metal genre. Somehow I don't expect to convince anyone that I'm not crazy.

Stam1na- SLK (2014)


Best Tracks: Rautasorkka, Heikko Ehka, Kolmen Minuuten Hiljaisuus ( I hope I’m spelling these right)


Weakest Tracks: Dynamo, Usko Pois



First of all, you have to tell me what language this is in. Fortunately, I’m not who studies the lyrics much when I’m doing a review.

You surprise me here, Mic. You didn’t strike me as much of a metal person. I’m not really a metal person either, but like you it seems, a few metal albums may sneak in for me once in a while. And I can see why you went with this one. It kind of has a eighties vibe, kind of like Iron Maiden for want of a comparison.

I like this album. It drives like a turbo engine. I did my usual best and weakest tracks but the truth is, this album is remarkably consistent. Usko Pois is really not that much of a step down from Rautasorkka for example. Kolmen is a nice instrumental and maybe my favorite track on the album. The title track starts off a bit choppy but I love the dramatic ending. I think you chose well here, Mic.

It might have been better in English, but no matter. I’m checking Love It and giving you an eight. It’s a big jump from the last review I gave you.










8/10 (the Word has spoken :D)


PS- I just discovered that they won an award in Finland, so I can assume these guys are Finnish?

Yes, Stam1na is a Finnish band and they sing in Finnish, except for 1 English language song one the album Nocebo. Personally, I tend to prefer artists singing in their native tongue. I'm so used to all sorts of foreign languages by now that I simply enjoy the color and personality it brings to music when everyone doesn't sing in English.

I can tell you that my leaning towards singer-songwriter and folk music is a pretty recent development. Go back 10 years and I was a total metalhead. I still enjoy quite a few metal bands, but I tend to lean towards the more creative, less genre bound metal bands these days.

I think what I've discovered, is that I'm not as much a fan of any specific genre as I'm into music that makes me feel alive or speaks to me on some emotional plane that is hard to pin down. Gone are the days where I first and foremost spent my energy trying to find good metal.

This is a pretty good one. Also, this club is falling apart.

Nah, we just have a lot of late bloomers with this one. Come on, guys, speak up. :)

There’s moments where it sounds like pretty cool black metal or math rock but mostly it’s a bunch of fruitloop no edge melodic emo in a bad way metal.

Listen to it and you’ll see why

It's not the first time you've reacted to one of my album club picks in a way that almost made me spit my coffee out over my laptop.

One of my absolute favorite metal albums of all time. I'm a very big fan of this band in general, and this is one of the band's best albums for sure, possibly tied with Elokuutio and Viimeinen Atlantis.

SLK has pretty much everything I want from a metal album: Atmosphere, tight songwriting, catchy riffs, interesting solos and impassioned delivery.

There's good variety and expressiveness in the vocals and all instruments are played with conviction and skill. What really makes this album such a classic for me is the fantastic , fat free songwriting. The songs just flow so well, no matter how many different parts are transitioned between and I'm never allowed to be bored for even a second.

I really enjoy bands that have a very unique sound and this is by no means your usual metal band, but rather an idiosyncratic mix of several different elements, some of which are very specifically tied to what's going on in Finnish rock and metal. The album just feels very Scandinavian - even disregarding the Finnish vocals (then there's the question of whether Finland is part of Scandinavia, but you'll get different answers depending who you ask and it's hardly important to my point).

Basically, I think this album is great. One might even say unassailable.

10/10, love it!

No it isn't. Seasonally adjust for Christmas and the New Year and we're doing just fine. If we're still like this halfway into January then, yes, I would start worrying. But for now, no. Just slowed down, is all.

This was a decent album, but kind of just that. I'd call it progressive metal but I would certainly refute the thrash metal tag thrown up by Discogs. I can kind of see the Maiden comparisons, to a degree, but I hear more Theocracy or Threshold personally, though I have to say nowhere near as good. It's not a bad album, but I'm not sure why MicShaz is going on so much about how good it is. It's okay but that's about it. There's nothing particularly new or exciting or different about it that I can see. I voted Like; best I can do. I'll give it a 7/10.

It was mismatched from the beginning with this piano part that's on the same level as Suzuki grade level one mixed in with Metal. When you go further into the album, you realize that this cutesy piano part was a premonition of things to come, and every so often something happens where you think what is this doing in a Metal song? The rest is just trite Metal, nothing to write home about. Oh there is a lot of palm muting which I guess it would appeal to those who have teenage aggression they was to get out of their system. I find it rather boring. So with the cutesy piano playing on track one, cheap violin pads ominous shouting chorus on track two etc etc the more you get into the album the more you realize you have nothing in common with people who retain teenage aggression well into adulthood. The same riffs I've heard in every other Metal song. Nothing truly remarkable happening anywhere.

But Polly, you love teenage angst and aggression. I seen you in da Plug, playin dat Post Punk.

I don't really listen to metal for aggression and I don't think this album is really characterized by such. To me, it often has an oddly calm vibe about it. There's something about the mood and flow of this album that I think is pretty unique. I see I'm the only one who think it's anything special, and it's fine that no one agree that it's great, but show me an album that sounds like this one and you'll be showing me another Stam1na album.

Well, I liked it, and that's saying a lot from someone who isn't really a metal head.

Careful, someone could turn that around and use it to suggest that it must be a watered down metal album for metal newbies :laughing:

You confusing existentialism of Post Punk with teenage aggressiveness of palm muting Metal.

So Gang of Four didn't have a youthful aggression?

Tbh, plenty of Post Punk isn't far off from the early Metal sound. Metal Postcard by Siouxsie and the Banshees could have been a Black Sabbath song.

To me, this didn't sound any different from countless other metal bands playing this sort of style. Nothing stood out and grabbed my attention or interested me much in any way. It seemed rather typical and wore thin pretty quickly. It started to sound tedious after a couple of songs. Probably a blessing that I didn't understand the lyrics.
Metal in general is one of my least liked genres to begin with and this album didn't do anything to change my taste. Can't say I hated it but I have to say I disliked it.

2.5/10

Bolded: exactly how I felt, though I thought it was good, just not anything special. I'm afraid once again MicShaz has built up another album to be something that the rest of us, or the majority anyway, don't see it as. Ah well.

He seems to have the direct opposite of my taste. Maybe he’s my loser twin separated at birth.

Who cares about this album? I just want to let people know how wrong they are for not liking Metal.

I'm doing this album club thing right though, in that I'm picking albums that I genuinely love, rather than trying to please everyone else. Pick a favorite, then hope it goes over well.

I'm not sure that's true. I do like some jazz, so that makes us not opposite. There's got to be more common ground. Honestly, I mostly remember you talking about jazz, but I'm sure you like plenty of other music.

No, you are, all right. Also, people loved one you picked a few months back I think. It's kind of a trade-off; no point in picking something just to pander to this crowd, but also no point in picking something you love but which you know everyone else will hate. Tough to steer a middle path through all of that. It's also important though, I feel, to try to go for something that people have some chance of liking. So no Genesis or Marillion albums from me then!

Hah! Wait till you see my pick for round five! :laughing:

your taste is hard to figure and I respect that

I think the Islaja album I picked a couple rounds back went over well, so that's something. When trying to find an album for the club, I have censored my first choices a time or two. Like you say, there's no point in making everyone feel like I'm just trying to annoy them :laughing:

No idea what I'll go with next. I feel like it has to be interesting, even if it's going to rub some people the wrong way. Everyone just going "meh" is not much fun.

If you're talking about me, just go with bad. :)

I think everyone in here has good taste in music. You can't be a complete dunce about music and still be interested in posting on a dedicated music forum.

You're not afraid of providing people with the tomatoes and rotten eggs yourself.

I highly contest this.

Make a thread about it then.

"Why You're All Still Dumbasses"

Thread of the year, 2018.

The difference being that if Frownland questioned my tastes, I'd do some self searching - reflecting over my choices in life, while if you did the same, I'd chuckle and roll my eyes.

Yeah, I agree: Frownland, while he can be annoying, will tell you why your taste is crap and give you examples of music you should be listening to, while elph will just say "It's not punk therefore it's ****". And Frown is often prepared to try things he's recommended whereas elph just says "It's not punk so no."

What Gang of Four Are we talking about here? The Gang of Four led by Jiang Qing or by Jon King? Or are they the same person, is Jon King the Anglicized name of Jiang Qing?


Could've, should've, would've ... if Sabbath wanted to have the song they would have written it themselves.

Did you get into The Batlord's steel reserve again?

And I question my poor life choices on a regular basis.

He's earned the right and though he may be an ******* he's got a certain amount of respect here from everyone. Other than Chula. Most of us just think you're a whiny ****er who complains about everyone's music and calls them stupid.

all the bands I know Elph is really into are all great though

Half Japanese
The Slits
The Fall

I forget who else but he likes good music

What are you so pissed at again?