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TAATSI
Amidst The Trees

Forever Plagued (2014)
Rating: 7.5/10

I’m quite the fan when it comes to atmospheric black metal that has its roots firmly in local folklore. Finnish duo Taatsi are named after a sacrificial stone situated in their home country, and the music they play is as intriguing as their lyrical content suggests.

Taatsi was formed in 2013 and consist of M, who is responsible for most of the guitars and bass, and A., who pretty much handles everything else. Amidst The Trees is the band’s seven-track, 30-minute debut full-length opus and comes not long after the Season Of Sacrifice demo.

If – like me – you sometimes need a respite from the rather bracing brand of unholy black metal that has been suffocating the globe for a few decades now then how about you experience this strange trip into a world of dark woods and fairy tales.

Black metal artists have often commentated on man’s relationship with nature, especially those frost-coated forests of Scandinavia, and Taatsi are no different in the sense that their subject matter is quite deep and psychological, but as soon as opening track ‘Malign Ghost Of The Woods’ comes skipping through the ferns you’ll realise that not all metal of this ilk has to be so hate-filled. Although we’re still introduced to those abrasive vocals, which at times border on an industrial smear, the music sprawls out in quite an upbeat manner in spite of the slower passages which could hint at melancholy but if anything are daubed in mystical prowess and magical shimmering.

It could be said that black metal of this ilk can tend to drag as the scathing guitar chords resonate across the airwaves like a grey haze of dissonance, but there is enough melody and pattern shifts here to engross the listener. Also, because the album is relatively short, it’s far easier to take in the individual tracks rather than be suffocated by some overly long, expansive membrane of ashen grace.

‘Malign Ghost Of The Woods’ is a perfect starter as A.’s vocals narrate in an absorbing fashion above the waterfalls of reflective percussion and spacious guitars. ‘A Moonlight Journey Through The Midwinter Forest’ nestles in the same frosty habitat as its predecessor, only this time there is a trickling piano running through the heart of this pristine white horizon which plays with the harmony of the guitar. Even at their heaviest, Taatsi is an evocative beast that toys with doom-laden majesty – existing as some nimble Jack Frost-type character tip-toeing through the stark trees, leading us astray through dark valleys of wolf lairs and fairy portals.

Albums of this character most certainly prompt me to become all poetical in my musings, for that is the only way to describe the sheer splendour of such an opus. As the squawk of a bird accompanies a fireside acoustic strum ‘Gateways Of The North’ opens up in a grimmer fashion. It’s a slow-burner of a track and yet the shortest track on the platter featuring a lumbering drum plod and those grating vocal drools. But variety is the spice of life for Taatsi as the pasty, nymph-like guitars dance in sinister fashion through the galloping ‘Beneath The Hills They Sing’, while with ‘Circle Of The Firmament’ the duo once again resorts to a crawl through the ice-layered annals of folklore.

Amidst The Trees is a fine foray into Finnish folklore that’ll have you believing in trolls, fairies and magical kingdoms until the goblins come home.

Neil Arnold

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