Anyone
who has any interest in the heavier/darker side of early 80’s Metal, or
who are into the old NWOBHM-style ...or Metal in general should know about
Finland’s Finest: SARCOFAGUS. They released 2 monstrous albums in 1980(!):
“Cycle of Life” and “Envoy of Death”, both of them concept albums dealing
with life and death and musically maybe the heaviest and meanest slabs
of vinyl this first year of everybody’s favourite decade. I would guess
both MERCYFUL FATE and CELTIC FROST gave these albums a few spins before
going into the studio to record their respective debut offerings. If you
already know of SARCOFAGUS it’s of even greater importance that you know
about their 3rd album under a different name. Opinions differ weather
the name of the band is MOOTTORILINNUT or KIMMO KUUSNIEMI BAND, but The
Corroseum's exclusive
interview
with main man Kimmo settled the score once and for all.
Opener “Metallinen Sateenkaari” with its catchy vocal harmonies and powerfull
double-bass drum chorus is possibly my all-time favourite Scandinavian
Classic Heavy Metal song. (The runner-ups: “mr rock’n’roll” – TROUBLE,
“down on my knees” – HIROSHIMA, “jeanne d’arc”- CRYSTAL PRIDE and “turn
the cross upside down” – OZ ...M.FATE excluded for general superiority).
The vocals of Muska Babitzin is one of the strongest female vocals I’ve
ever heard and in that context it is kind of funny that she is mostly
known as a solo-artist of the schlager-realm in Finland. She also sing
on “Elävinen..” and the Doom/Prog/Epic masterpiece “Megakone”, which evokes
the same Egyptian feel as many old SARCO’-cuts. Her brother Kirka does
a fantastic job on another big hit, “1000 Megawatin Totuus”, a real Doom/Heavy
Crusher! He is possibly the best selling national artist in Finland, one
of his records reaching 5xPlatinum. I doubt it was one of his 2 HR/Metal
records, which he made a few years after this guest appearance. Yes, it’s
quite a diverse album, from the very NWOBHMish “Kuoleman Kauppias”, via
epic ballad-goes-heavy “Talo” to their Hard Rockin’ theme song. There’s
something here for everybody, both to enjoy and not to. Luckily you see
this album offered from time for about € 30,- - € 60,-, which is OK if
you live outside Scandinavia, but If someone tries to charge more I suggest
you wait.
The SARCOFAGUS-albums are re-released on CD by the Italian Mellotron Records
and feature some demos as bonus trax w/ Ritari on vocals. One last intriguing
fact about this record: It was also released as a home video! 25 copies
are rumored to exist. A DVD of this lost classic is now on it's way!