Review: Oranssi Pazuzu- Muuntautuja

Style: progressive black metal, psychedelic black metal, heavy psych (mostly harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Blut Aus Nord, Ulcerate, Inter Arma, Elder, Thy Catafalque, Author & Punisher
Country: Finland
Release date: 11 October 2024

Non-metalhead music nerds universally gravitate toward a weird selection of modern metal LPs to laud as future classics: Rateyourmusic, Pitchfork, Anthony Fantano, and the hipster kid in your English class will universally gravitate toward Blood Incantation (just last week), Ὁπλίτης, Trhä, Tomb Mold, Chat Pile, Ulcerate, and King Gizzard’s “metal” without fail. I’m conflicted. On the one hand, gatekeeping good metal isn’t my thing—it’s why I write here—but these weird echo chamber-y communities also are so strange and picky with their metal limited metal taste buds it can be frustrating seeing them pick up something but never explore deeper. The internet is weird how one can at once know underground Chinese blackened mathcore and also not care about any but a couple other metal releases of the year. It can also be weird as a fan deep inside the genre when you disagree with one of these picks to herald as something great. Yes, I want to see metal succeed outside of our community, but “really, that band?” is so often my reaction. 

Oranssi Pazuzu are another picked up by the music nerds: Anthony Fantano has reviewed several albums of theirs favorably in the past, Rateyourmusic has their previous two among their highest albums of their given years, and Pitchfork has whipped out a high score for them when most major metal albums don’t even get a mention. Unfortunately, I was left largely ambivalent to Oranssi Pazuzu’s sound while listening to their first five albums despite being the perfect band for me on paper, and I felt like I was missing out on something great; heck, even the people who don’t care about metal eat this crap up. A career of long psychedelic synth passages, extended jams, warped black metal, oddball progressions underneath snarling shrieks… I so desperately want to add another peculiar black metal band to the collection. Can the Finn’s new sixth full-length album in fifteen years, Muuntautuja, finally convince me I’m missing out?

In the past decade and a half, Oranssi Pazuzu have evolved little from album to album, always dabbling in a mix of Elder-y heavy psych and black metal, but Muuntautuja displays an uncharacteristic amount of growth over the past four years—deserving of its name translated as “Shapeshifter.” No longer writing stoner meanderings, Oranssi Pazuzu have more pinpointed focus with a newly added industrial electronica providing an apocalyptic atmosphere. Out of the gate, “Bioalkemisti” stutters glitchy synths in a percussive, noisy opening before their classic psyched out, fuzzy guitars hit. Shortly after (around 1:55), the track loses itself in a noisy cacophony; however, this is the strength of Muuntautuja when compared with previous releases. Rather than getting lost in pedestrian psychedelics—a wanna-be Elder or Pink Floyd but never convincing enough to help them stand apart from other fringe black metal acts—Oranssi Pazuzu now weaponize noise as their primary songwriting catalyst, providing an order of magnitude more edge. The hazy violence is more compelling. 

And through the chaotic sections, the newfound electronica underlying the band’s sound balances the disturbing sounds with an aberrant desire to dance through the primordial energy. The title track drips in Tangerine Dream synth sounds and an Author & Punisher-esque beat; the already mentioned opener has old school 70s prog Moog synthesizers; “Valotus” pulses with a serious groove from the heavier bass and more riff-forward attack. But the highlight of the album is easily the penultimate epic “Ikikäärme” which focuses on a crescendoing structure throughout its length, crafting a calamitous atmosphere with its gelid piano parts and ever-growing sense of unbridled energy. It’s the band’s magnum opus and their most complete piece of writing yet. 

Muuntautuja also keeps several variables from the band’s previous studio work, especially the sludgy production quality which loses lots of crisp detail that would be advantageous for the colder, more industrial black metal style. The album is also paced strangely: “Vierivä Usva” is an immensely disappointing closer after “Ikikäärme,” more pointless filler than anything. Moreover, other tracks can be slightly too free flowing in their psychedelia. Even though the mission feels clearer—to capture the cold, uncaring vacuum of space through their recording—some tracks are missing the focused songwriting that would create more stunning results. “Hautatuuli,” for instance, is too much of a meandering slow burn, and its atmosphere doesn’t make up for its unsatisfying climax. 

Overall, Oranssi Pazuzu are moving in the right direction, incorporating a wider blend of influences that blend together into a more compelling progressive and psychedelic black metal experience. Now what will the non-metal music nerds have to say about this one? Honestly, I think they’ll like it just as much as before. This is coolly heavy and dark, but it’s got an unmistakable groove and an air of controlled chaos with just the right level of progressiveness. It won’t be as huge as last week’s Blood Incantation release (interestingly also the first album of that band I really enjoy), but I’m certainly happy that Oranssi Pazuzu are worming their way toward the good hipster metal side of things.

Recommended tracks: Muuntautuja, Ikikäärme
You may also like: Dødheimsgard, Krallice, Imperial Triumphant, A Forest of Stars, Dystopia, Omega Infinity
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Nuclear Blast – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Oranssi Pazuzu is:
Evill – grand piano, vocals, effects
Ikon – guitar, sampler, synthesizers
Jun-His – the voice, guitar
Korjak – drums
Ontto – bass guitar, synthesizers