Liste der Bands Melodic Power Kiuas Reformation

Kiuas nowadays are quite a known band, and they attained such a high place surprisingly fast. Formed in 2000, the band have released a few promos and an EP. Their first full-length album, The Spirit of Ukko, was released in 2005 and got brilliant reviews. The musicians didn't wait long and released the second album, Reformation, already in 2006. This album turned out to be amazing, and the career of the band rose. But now let's speak just about Reformation.

I don't know why, but sometimes you can speak endlessly about some good release, and sometimes you can say just "wow, it's a great album!". Reformation is an album of the first kind. We can start with some facts: Reformation hit the 21st place on the official Finnish Top 40 chart, 7 guest musicians took part in the recording, and it was mastered in famous Finnvox Studio. So we take the CD already with some interest. The booklet in blue and white colours presents northern winter at its best: a lot of snow and ice. And of course there are some Kiuas features – pagan signs, runes on ice - and a photo of the band. A stylish, quite simple, nice layout.

Kiuas has had its own signature style from the first album on, and the band hasn't changed it much. The whole album keeps a set of main features: heavy, sharp, hard and rough music with powerful guitars and epic keyboards, with various vocals of Ilja – he sings in a clear way (but not high-pitched), growls, shouts, - and with additional guest vocals, narrations, choirs, and effects. This music is more heavy than tradition heavy metal, but not as brutal as some thrash or death metal; it has something from power metal and some pagan features. Sometimes it's more fast and energetic, sometimes more settled and rhythmic. Sometimes they even have progressive notes, and of course keyboards make the music melodic and a little softer. So every song - the starter, "Race with the Falcons", catchy "The New Chapter", faster "Of Ancient Wounds", or heavier, with growling, "Black Winged Goddess", or others - every song is driving, energetic, and many-sided, but the whole album is kept in the one style, even the closing epic, "Reformation".

As I said, every song is many-sided: Kiuas combine different lines and details in one song, change more powerful parts with more calm, which is what makes the music interesting, giving the band their own style ... but making it impossible to describe each song separately. It's like describing a butterfly in details: when you'll take wings and chelas and look at them apart, you won't see the beauty of the butterfly. So as with a picture of a butterfly's wings, you can be delighted by the guitar riffs and melodies of Reformation, but don't ruin the album's integrity; just enjoy every sound of string or flutes or mighty drumming… But one song should be mentioned particularly – the pearl of the album is undoubtedly the ballad "Bleeding Strings". Really heavy, very touching, with great harmony and melody, sensitive and sincere, it opens the depth of Kiuas' talent. I am sure that this album will return into the player again and again … until you'll have to buy the new CD.