Review: Human By Nature – Eläimys

Style: Progressive Metal, Alternative Metal, Post Metal (Mixed, but mostly clean)
Review by: Mathis
Country: Finland
Release date: February 11, 2022

Have you ever felt uneasy or maybe even terrified of something, yet you find you have a strange fascination for it? I can’t watch scary movies at all… because I am a child. Despite this I can’t stop myself from peeking around the corner while my wife watches “demon doll of the dead” (or something like that). Eläimys is kind of like a musical equivalent to these scary movies. It is dark, mysterious, and creepy; but alluring.

Eläimys is finnish band Human By Nature’s debut album, but it is anything but amatuer. They have been working on this album for years now, and it seems to have paid off. The craftsmanship and patience required to make a debut album with this level of quality is truly admirable. This album sounds like cultish worship music for an arboreal religious group whose god must be Groot. The central idea of the album being that we are one with nature, created by nature, almost as if we are Human By Nature. Jokes aside, Eläimys is eerie and organic, filled with ambiguity and wonder. The vocals range from soft and wispy, to falsetto, to swaggering and bold, with portions that remind me of the former Twelve Foot Ninja vocalist Kin.

The introductory track is terrifying. Just a few strums of an unpleasant acoustic guitar surrounded by nothing except for some ambient noise. I feel like I have just trespassed on sacred land. “You Decompose” is up next, and it actually feels much more sonically welcoming…until I read the lyrics that is. This track is about a man suffering from an internal strife, something inside of him makes him feel confident and strong, but this worries him. The lore is interesting, but more importantly I would like to draw your attention to the stellar drumming in this song. There are parts where I swear there is a roll on the snare, but I am also hearing multiple cymbals tinging and clinging too. Is it a one handed gravity blast on the snare throwing me off? I have never seen that technique outside of technical death metal, perhaps the drummer has sprouted a third arm to take some of the burden that other ones are carrying.

After listening to the first song I noticed something strange that is prominent throughout the whole album. Eläimys is composed mostly of clean vocals, and there aren’t a whole lot of big riffs, breakdowns, or screams. I wouldn’t really consider the album heavy. However, it is anything but soft. It’s aggressive and crunchy, like a drunken hobo. A great example of this is “The Practice”, the song starts throwing punches before you even know what’s going on. Although the fighting style isn’t typical, it’s dangerous because of the mindless belligerence and unpredictability. Think Sikth’s spoken word tracks, but further evolved into complete songs.

My favorite song on Eläimys is “Root”. This song is a little simpler in structure than the others, and is also quite a bit shorter. It begins with a riff equal parts groovy and goofy, and like the other tracks it has strange lyrics that revolve around nature. Around the two minute mark a new riff is introduced that is progressively played faster and faster, ultimately spiraling into a chant “reach for the root!” The vocalist joins in on the chant, or rather forcefully yells over it.

I don’t have any major issues with Eläimys, color me impressed. It’s creepy, but not gory and gross like horror themed albums. It’s fascinating and unique, and I think it is perfect the way it is. I generally prefer my music heavier, but I expect Eläimys will infiltrate my regular rotation of music with ease, especially with it’s similarities to Sikth. Way to go Human By Nature!

Recommended tracks: Root, The Practice
Recommended for fans of: Sikth
You may also like: A Kew’s Tag, Gargoyl
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook
Label: Independent

Human By Nature is:
– Perttu Lindberg (Drums)
– Miika Kyyrö (Bass guitar, double bass)
– Juha Mäntynen (Electric, baritone and 11-string acoustic guitar, singing bowls, finger cymbals)
– Juho Sammalkorpi (Electric and acoustic guitar)
– Henry Soinnunmaa (Vocals, electric and acoustic guitar)