Paganus - s/t 2008
heathenharvest.com:
The Scandinavian countries continue to throw up something of a curious and contradictory phenomenon; it’s a stunningly beautiful area of the world, at least according the books, tourist brochures and documentaries & films I have read or seen. Yet, when it comes to music, these countries seem to have spawned the most hellish and brutal acts ever heard, churning out a plethora of outfits that continually push the boundaries of what the ‘metal’ genre is capable of. This latest full length album from Hamina, Finland’s paganus continues that trend with four mammoth slices of hate inflected doom, bloodily ripped from the rotten belly of the beast and gratuitously displayed for all to see; come closer and let the stench of utter decay completely overpower you.
All four of these tracks weigh in with an inhuman super-heavyweight momentum, piling on the spite and bile like some momentous tectonic movement lifting up continents and mountain ranges, causing monolithic boulders to be flung about like a child’s toy ball or splattering megatons of earth & rock across entire countries. The pace is monolithically and geologically slow, the momentum guaranteed to steamroller just about everything into dust. The emotions are an entity in themselves, skin-stripped and nerve-exposed raw, sharp stabs of searing pain transmitting itself throughout a remorselessly tortured body. The singer squeezes as much anguish, spite, venom and despair out of his vocalisations as it is humanly possible to do so without actually physically ripping his vocal cords out of his own throat. The rest of the band are a perfect foil for the voice, the guitar delivering heavy and crushing riffage that would give a neutron star a run for its money in the density and weightiness stakes, and is ably assisted in its quest for total sonic domination by the equally heavyweight contributions of the rhythm section.
paganus don’t take any prisoners, the behemoth grabbing tenaciously and crushingly as soon as the overdriven chordage comes crashing in after a few brief quiet opening bars on the first track, which also happens to be named ‘paganus’. From this point on, the behemoth rumbles on inexorably, using sheer weight to subdue and dominate. paganus the song lumbers determinedly onward, battering away all obstacles in its path. ‘Blood-soaked Boots’ extends the bloody swathe, offering us more dread, damnation and disease, leaving behind in its wake a war-torn landscape, the roiling dust choking the atmosphere, and the tumbled stones mixing indiscriminately with mangled flesh and laved with freshly spilt blood. This tendency for massacre continues on both the ensuing tracks, ‘Skullsplitter’ and ‘Stab’, which wantonly bathe themselves in the life-force of the unwillingly sacrificed, those unfortunate souls who weren’t quick enough to make their escape; be careful here, you may end up being one of them.
As with a lot of this species of beast, after a while it all kind of blurs into one homogeneous blob of crunch and fuzz, plus the slowly lumbering metre combined with the extended lengths of each individual track often means that I found myself losing the thread about three-quarters of the way through. However, I must say that overall, of its kind this is decidedly better than a great many I’ve heard – for a start the production values are high, each of the instruments carries through very clearly, the musicianship is excellent, and they also go to the trouble of injecting enough variety into their compositions as the genre parameters allow, to keep complete ennui setting in. And to be honest, they work very well within those parameters. Furthermore, even though I have to say that after the third or fourth listen this was beginning to pall slightly and the sameness was starting to get tiring, there was still enough of interest in there for me to make a return visit after a suitable period of time, a couple of months maybe.
As far as I am aware, this is their debut platter, and as such, it’s a good career launch – certainly they appear to be concerned with quality, in terms of both the music and the physical product. For me, this was definitely above average, it impressed me with its attention to detail compositionally and also the sheer gargantuan weight this 5-man juggernaut have managed to set down onto plastic. It would be very interesting to see how they develop from this point; it is to be hoped that they can evolve their style into new avenues and sharpen it into something truly monolithic and unstoppable.
teethofthedivine.com:
It’s a well-worn horror cliché that no matter how far or how fast you run, the hulking, machete-wielding murderer behind you will somehow always manage to catch up with you - even while trudging along at a much slower clip. This pretty much sums up Paganus, an extreme-doom act hailing from Finland who’ve crafted an experience that feels relentless despite its punishingly slow pace. Paganus is also surprisingly engaging, largely due to the rasped, blackish vocals. The four songs here - all around ten minutes long or more - feel like epic narrative poems, as if recited by the Homer of the trollish world. Or, if I can make another film reference, it’s like the extreme-doom equivalent of the voiceover from the beginning of Conan the Barbarian, but set to a crushing, ragged score. A varied drum performance also elevates this above your usual lumbering monotony, adding to the narrative with its own voice and flourishes, and becoming a character unto itself. Paganus also smartly lets additional elements burble to the surface periodically - a mournful acoustic interlude during “Blood Soaked Boots,” or a crackling, slow-motion eruption of tectonic rumbling and space-warp electronics at the core of “Skullsplitter.” Maybe it’s the result of the album’s hypnotic effect (or just ‘cause it’s late and I’m still at work and totally burned out), but the latter instantly conjured up the image of a prehistoric tribe, high on psychedelic mushrooms and staring agog at a volcanic explosion against the night sky. (I am dead sober as I write this, I promise you). “Skullsplitter” then progresses to a long call-and-response chant (”My boots are soaked in blood… my blood!”) between two different personas, one rasped and one a deeper, Neurosis-like bellow, ending the track on an almost ritualistic note. Pagan, even. This sort of doom is usually not my thing, unless I just want to be bludgeoned into deep reverie or concentration, but Paganus has grown on me quite a bit. Definitely recommended to fans of the genre, or just for anyone who’s curious about the audio equivalent of being slowly fisted by Hellboy. gothtronic.com Totalrust Music seems to be a label to watch for doom fans. All sorts of interesting bands are popping up on this new label like Volition and Funeralium. The selftitled debut album of Finnish band Paganus is another interesting release. It contains four tracks of traditionally played sludge doom which I will handle in depth in the following review. The title track “Paganus” eerily starts the album with a slow tune, then said guitar tune starts flowing into riffs which gradually get heavier. Accompanying the music is a gruesomely harsh vocal shriek. The song dwells on the melody set out in the beginning for it’s entirety, changing in pace only slightly at around the seven minute mark and the nine minute mark. It’s all very exquisitely slow, heavy and dirty. The vocals are of the exact same, disgusting quality. Slow, controlled drumming is present to add rhythm to the song. This is a menacing track, containing a very threatening and almost choking atmosphere. “Blood Soaked Boots” again works on the traditional sludge concept. Slowly the track trudges through a desolate swamp made up of a single melody leading up to a vocal duet of harsh shouts and raw shrieks. This second track is the shortest of the bunch and the only one that doesn’t run for over ten minutes. “Skullsplitter” is the third track in a row which starts out traditionally, but this one goes deeper into the atmospherics. It sounds great when the vocalist screams the song title over and over again in an awesome way, very evil. This song doesn’t just contain raw and dirty guitar work though. There are also spoken vocals and some newer Isis and Pelican like post-rock qualities can be found within the music starting from around the seven minute mark, serving as an outro to this song. It comes across, however, as a not so subtle infusion of another genre within the rawer sludge sound Paganus plays. At this point in the album I wasn’t expecting this sudden twist in sound because Paganus sounded very raw up to here, comparable to Grief and Noothgrush. But it’s obvious that the atmospheric side of sludge, pioneered by bands like Neurosis and Isis, has left its influence on this band as well. The inclusion of this outro here is a bit of an odd choice to me, since it doesn’t occur in other parts of the album it comes across a bit forced and obsolete. A short ambient section is what introduces the closing track “Stab” and it is to be the best track on this entire album. An altogether creepy atmosphere, very raw vocals and a nicely twisted guitar tone dominate the entire track. “Stab” is dirty, messed up sludge in its finest and rawest form. It’s very depressing and crushingly heavy, which is exactly what you should expect from an album in this genre. The track picks up in speed and brutality in the final minutes which are executed really well. Paganus knows how to play their traditional sludge and made a worthy contribution to the genre with their selftitled debut.
Grade:
8.5
Review by:
David
vampire-magazine.com
One of three recently released albums from Israeli label Totalrust Records, this self-titled debut four-tracker from Finnish doom exponents Paganus is like being very, very slowly incinerated from the feet up in Hells infernal fires. Apocalyptic to its rotten core this unholy quintet set to crush world in torrents of Sabbath-esque ultra-slow riffage, mammoth groove and vocals that sound like some poor soul having his throat slit with a blunt knife.
With a wide range of influences including Ved Buens Ende, Stephen O’Malley and Tool it is evident from the first few minutes of the self-titled opener that Paganus are quite different from your usual extreme doom act. Using some bizarre though subtle rhythmic ideas and chords pulled straight from the belly of the beast himself, this near 12-minute soul-crusher uses simple though effective dynamics and walls of background electronics to drill deep into the listeners head, mangling the senses until you feel numb with its blackened droning vibrations. “Skullsplitter” does exactly what its title suggests, while the very Khanate “Blood Soaked Boots” drifts through immense passages of savage distortion and almost Neurosis-styled ambience giving a slightly different perspective to Paganus’ destructive musical arsenal.
Climaxing with the ultra-intense and noisy-as-fuck “Stab” Paganus prove that there is far more to these five Finns than what might initially meet (or damage) the ears. Unholy, apocalyptic, deranged and diseased this is undoubtedly a fine debut to launch into the ever deepening doom metal abyss and is one that this writer can recommend to you wholeheartedly.
Metalteam UK
Paganus are a Finnish doom/death five-piece who formed in 2000, only releasing a couple of demos up until this (their self titled debut album) was released by tiny Israeli label Totalrust Music a couple of weeks ago. When you take into consideration that even though there are only 4 tracks on offer here, that the album still has a runtime stopping just short of 50 minutes, you’ll win no prizes for guessing the tempo at which they play their music – s-l-o-o-o-o-o-w.
With that said, they have enough inventiveness in their song structures to keep a vice-like grip on your imagination for every second. Every nuance, every crackle of static filled distortion and every moment of contemplative silence has been perfectly honed to serve you with one of the finest doom releases I’ve heard in 2008 thus far. Even though the tempo is generally slow, it doesn’t stop the strangulated guitars occasionally straying off to a more mid tempo pace to pound your senses with a fantastically defiant vigour. Vocally, it’s not your standard doom/death affair either, with blackened throaty hiss interchanging between an easily intelligible shout depending on the mood of the riff that they’re topping.
All of these separate ingredients blend into one incredible whole, with the excellent song-writing shining through the darkened mire and charred moods that glide around this album like restless wraiths. The whole album is figuratively bursting with atmosphere, burrowing deep into your psyche and melting away your awareness of time and surroundings for its entire run time.
It’s bands like Paganus that keep the underground alive and well. To all the doom fanatics out there - save your pennies that you were going to spend on the latest mainstream doom bands and check this bad boy out instead; the music simply demands it.
Lars Christiansen
Crucial Blast webstore
Supreme apocalyptic doom. One of the three amazing new albums that Total Rust just opened up 2008 with (alongside the blackened noise/doom of Highgate's debut and Volition's pulverizing self titled album), this self titled, four song disc from the Finnish group Paganus is a vicious deathscape of dramatic detuned riffs played at geological speed, jet-black negative energy, awesome use of electronic noise, and a singer who is able to switch between a wicked raspy screech and a deep, furious Viking bellow. More than anything, Paganus have created a sound that sounds like a cross between Neurosis last couple of albums and the extreme doom of Khanate and Burning Witch. The riffs on the opening title track and "Skullsplitter" are absurdly heavy, like Times Of Grace slowed waaaay down to half speed and textured by gritty distorted noise and dark electronic ambience that's carefully layered in the background, turning into huge passages of detailed granular laptop fuzz and processed drones. Massive, soul crushing music that extreme doom fans are going to fucking lose their minds over. The third track "Blood Soaked Boots" starts off with more monstrous doom riffage, a bleak halting dirge that grinds on for over six minutes before it gives way to a subdued second half dominated by spacey post-rock. And the final song "Stab" begins as a nightmarish sound collage of snarling vocals, tape manipulation and white noise before turning into trippy, FX drenched doom as harrowing as anything from Burning Witch but way more noise-and-FX damaged."
Chambers Magazine
Hamina vuonna 2000. Pimeän hehku piirteli yhä kasvavia varjojaan Suomenlahden rannoille, kun Paganus -nimellä itsensä siunannut sotakoneisto asettui taloksi tuohon eteläsuomalaiseen provinssiin. Tuomiopäivänlegioonan taival kohti maailman valloitusta ei kuitenkaan ollut esteetön; muutama sotilas joutui uhraamaan itsensä ja rintamalinjakin siirrettiin pois periferiasta. Miehistö uudelleen sijoitettiin pitkin Suomen niemen, Paganuksen painuessa maan alle nuolemaan haavojaan. Tämä kaikki oli kuitenkin vasta alkua suurelle saagalle, jonka alkusanat lausuttiin, kun verta janoava Paganus nousi suonsilmäkkeestä, kuin Feenix -lintu tuhkasta, ja päästi ilmoille selkäpiitä karmivan sotahuutonsa.
Tuo sotahuuto ajoittuu jonnekin vuoden 2006 tietämille, jolloin Paganus -kvintetti sulkeutui studioon valmistelemaan debyyttialbumiaan. Mielenkiintoisen asiasta tekee se, että orkesteri ei ollut kertaakaan aikaisemmin nauhoittanut edes demoa, puhumattakaan kokonaisesta albumista. Kun julkaisijoitakaan ei näkynyt mailla eikä halmeilla, niin Paganus päätti koostaa valmiista materiaalista promo-painoksen (Samperin kuukauden demo syyskuussa 2007), joka houkuttelisi kärpäspaperin lailla levy-yhtiöitä puoleensa. Liike oli arrogantti, mutta ilmeisen toimiva, sillä tallipaikka löytyi kuin löytyikin. Tosin ei ihan seinän takaa, sillä TotalRust Musicin toimipaikka sijaitsee osoitteessa Jerusalem, Israel.
Musiikillisesti viisikko tarpoo sludgen ja doomin välisellä rämeellä, muttei vajoa leimallisesti kummankaan syvyyksiin. Vokaalityöskentelykään ei lokerointia auta, sillä Markus Lanki kärisee paikoin hyvinkin sludge-uskollisesti, mutta miekkosen semi-puhdas macho-murina on taasen melkoisen doom-orientoitunutta. Kuvitelkaa Electric Wizard ja YOB soittamassa Khanate-covereita, niin olette jyvällä Paganus -viisikon mielenliikkeistä. Tosin ajoittaiset post doom-tunnelmat ja taustalla vellova noisematto nostavat paikoin mieleen myös alkuaikojen Cult of Lunan. Extreme doomiksikin Paganusta on kutsuttu - mitä tuo termi nyt ikinä sisällään pitääkään.
Teoksen mielenkiintoisimmiksi raidoiksi nousevat jo promolta tutut, pirullisen jykevä Paganus, sekä rumuuden ja kauneuden välisellä dynamiikalla leikittelevä Skullsplitter, jonka järjestysnumero on muuten painossa vaihtunut toisesta kolmanneksi. Albumin heikoimman lenkin tittelin saa harteilleen neljäs ja viimeinen veisu Stab, joka alkaa todella kiihoittavalla noise-introlla, mutta taantuu melko tavanomaiseksi tuomio-virreksi.
Aivan täyden kympin teos tämä ei ole, mutta kiitettävä nyt kuitenkin. Pitää toivoa, että aikainen julkaisuajankohta ei tiputa Paganusta loppuvuoden polli-listoilta vuoden 2008 debytanttia etsittäessä, ja miksei vuoden albumiakin. "I have seen the darkness".
Teemu Lahtinen 16.2.08
Masterful-magazine.com
Totalrust Music
< For a band hailing from the ever fertile soils of Finland Paganus doesn't sound like many of its contemporaries. Much in the vein of Black Sabbath, Cathedral and to a lesser degree Khanate this act is sparse with melody while excelling in writing strong, varied material. Mammoth riffing, minimal drumming and droning bass sections make up much of this deceivingly classic sounding record. The riffing is dense and primitive resulting in a bleak, harrowing and claustrophobic atmosphere. While the tempo is obviously low the record never drags thanks to the band's excellent sense of dynamics. Vocally, this is much more down the American line of things (Unearthly Trance comes to mind) with its prominently shouted vocals alongside strangled black metal rasps. The production is clear without sounding overproduced. The drums and guitars sound warm with a healthy bottom end groove. The album was recorded and mixed at Vehkalahtisahli by Jussi Matikainen with mastering done at South-East Sounds by Teemu Aalto. The artwork, design and lay-out is very reminiscent of the early '90s death metal albums and quite spectacular at that. Paganus do an expert take on the classic doom genre and this self-titled effort will surely establish their name within the scene.
Wouter - 8
Feindesland.de
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Von behaglicher Melodik keine Spur! |
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Weist ein Album mit nur vier Stücken eine Spieldauer von fast 50 Minuten auf, dürfte alsbald klar sein, um welches Genre es sich handelt - richtig, Doom natürlich. Genau diese Konstellation kennzeichnet Paganus und ihr gleichnamiges Debüt. Die Band aus dem Finnischen Hamina existiert seit Anno 2000 und besteht derzeit aus: Manu Liira (Guitar), Teemu Muhli (Bass), Tomi Pekkola (Drums), Mikko Nenonen (Noise) und Markus Lanki (Voice). Letzterer war bereits als Sessionmusiker für Sinamore tätig. |
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geschrieben am 21.02.2008 von Michael |
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Bewertung: |
Punkte (Innovation): 10 von 15 |
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StalkerMusic
Homman nimi on äärimmäinen tuomiometalli. Sitähän tehdään kyllä paljon, mutta harvoin näin ilkeästi. Paganuksen nimeämätön debyytti heittää pölyiselle pöydälle neljä veren tahrimaa kappaletta. Levyn riffit jyräävät kautta linjan päälle kuin ruostunut junanvaunu vailla veturia, jättäen taakseen lohduttomia näkymiä, ahdistusta ja nykyaikaista angstia. Pääasiassa black-tyyliin esitetyt vokaalit huokuvat inhoa ja vittumaisuutta. Huudetut tai ainakin äänekkäästi lausutut vokaalit sen sijaan kuulostavat lohduttomilta, vihaisilta ja lunastavat kyllä paikkansa paketissa. Kummallisiin suuntiin elävät biisit, jotka alkuun kuulostavat junnaukselta, mutta päätyvätkin erikoisiin paikkoihin, saavat kyseenalaistamaan elämän merkityksen ja tarkoituksen, tai ainakin katselemaan sitä virne naamalla. Ajatuksia Paganus siis ainakin allekirjoittaneessa herättää. Black sabbathin nimeen vannovaa extreme doomia, sarkastista ja ilkeätä sellaista. Kuuntele ja itke ja naura samaan aikaan. Hämmentävintä ja ilkeimmän kuuloista materiaalia, mitä olen aikoihin kuullut. Biisit, joita voisi innovatiivisiksikin kutsua, pysyvät kasassa, vaikka silläkään ei Paganuksen tapauksessa juuri ole väliä. Paikottaiset noise- ja jopa bluesiin taipuvat periodit sekoittavat pakkaa juuri sopivasti saaden aikaan lisää hämmennystä. Biisit eivät jää junnaamaan, vaikka niitäkin ovia kolkutellaan. Oikeissa kohdissa, tai kierosti hieman myöhässä, vaihdetaan tempoa tai yllätetään jollain muulla tavalla. Aivan äärimmäisintä synkkyyttä ei tästä doomista löydy, jotain muuta sen sijaan sitäkin enemmän. Jotain selittämätöntä ja kieroutuneella tavalla äärimmäisen kiehtovaa. 4,5/5
Unholy Cult Webzine
What sets Doom music apart from its contemporaries, especially when it is extraordinary, is an ability to keep the listeners attention. If done adroitly, the listless 6-string heaviness is almost a side effect, for fearful meditation honed through subtle tempo changes, drones, distortion, cackles of reverb, and snarling hisses will create a melting psychedelia of misery capable of staining even the most resilient psyche. Paganus has created this type of recording with their self-titled debut.Each song on ‘Paganus’ is a convoluted poem with guitar musing through tempos that create a feeling of nihilism via a warped version of accentual meter. Distortion hums in unrelenting portent like a grinding glacier slithering into a bean green ocean. The effect is a mesmerizing affair of sluggishly freezing Doom asphyxiating ears in seconds that seem lengthy enough to be a stint in prison. Loamy vocals clogged in silt spew screeching acid, they narrate evil tomes, or they transmogrify into the beached corpse of a raspy Jazz singer pungently bellowing verses that mix dexterously with clamoring cymbals, and 6-string diabolism. The rhythm section is a dirge of odious shimmering contrasting against quaking bursts of electronic clatter. In effect, Paganus is almost too much for the senses. Hearing them play is like an orgasm of steamy lust and hallucinogens rolled into homicide committed by a bludgeoning brick.
What makes hearing ‘Paganus’ a paradox is that its smothering appeal lies in its lively production. The result is a CD filled with mood shifts between hopeless, horrid, contemptuous, and necro contemplation. Lyrics add to the gloom with lines using personification like “World pregnant with lies… Lies attached to your skin,” which are roared in the title track. Even the jazzy electro ambient passage at 6:51 of “Skullsplitter” is nothing more than a taunt, for within its belly, a mildewed pearl shivers an affirmation of misery metered tauntingly by enervated drums.
It would be too simple to tell you ‘Paganus’ is fat with riffs for fans that love Khanate, Grief, or Burning Witch. Sure, Paganus incorporates moments from each of those bands, but the sheer diversity of their music gives them an identity situated in the splendor of uncertainty without necessity for fact. Each note, chord, dissonant drone, or forlorn blurb seems hinged on empiricism and imagination. Theoretically, the music is a reaction based on observation with the band seemingly eliminating their personalities as a method for effectively taking on the qualities found in the music and lyrics in each composition. Paganus has loosely channeled “negative creativity” into one of the most essential Doom albums of 2008… Somewhere John Keats is smiling.
By Mike Lidia
Metalrage.com
The four songs offer crushing heavy doom combined with gentle depressing soundscapes, which ensures the dynamic level of this album is well managed. Together with the clear but doomy production one can conclude that this is a worthy release, recommendable for people into extreme and depressing doom.
Lordsofmetal.com
< Roel F.: The Finnish Paganus brings more extreme doom metal with their latest album, simply called 'Paganus'. Arguably for fans of Khanate of Burning Witch on account of the doomscapes that are supposedly painted by heavy guitar playing and drumming. Anyway, just as with practically all doom bands, the thumb rule is ultra slow, slower, slowest. Probably only for true lovers of the genre. I for one am not, so a rating would be inappropriate. No score No scoreNoise.fi 4/5
Suomalainen doom metal elää hyviä aikoja. Vaikka tuomion kentille jäikin Reverend Bizarren mentävä aukko, kehittyy reservissä laadukkaita täydennysjoukkoja. Viime vuonna hätkähdytti Yearning-mies Juhani Palomäen doom-projekti Colosseum. Tämän vuoden käynnistää ympyräkaavoituksen ja turskien luvatusta kaupungista Haminasta ponnistavan Paganuksen esikoisalbumi.Bändi on ollut kasassa jo vuosituhannen alkumetreiltä asti, mutta debyyttikiekon julki saaminen vei kahdeksan vuotta. Israelilaisen yhtiön julkaisema lätty koostuu neljästä sludgella maustetusta doom-matelusta. Perinteisestä doomista Paganuksen erottaa välillä hyvinkin hyökkäävä aggressiivisuus. Valittelusta ja voivottelusta ei ole tietoakaan kappaleissa, jotka kantavat nimiä kuten Skullsplitter ja Blood Soaked Boots.
Paganus yhdistää äärimmäisen synkän ja piinaavan hidastelun kieroon väkivaltaisuuteen. Laulaja Markus Langin työskentely noudattaa samaa kaavaa. Enimmäkseen mies rääkyy sludgemaiseen tyyliin, mutta kiihtyy aina kappaleiden kliimakseissa miehekkääseen huutolauluun, josta ei voiman tuntoa puutu. Yksi elementti ei kuitenkaan vaihdu – äärimmäinen raskaus. Se on yhtälailla läsnä hitaissa ja hiljaisemmissa kohdissa kuin myös rehvakkaammissa runttauksissa. Ainoastaan yksi psydekeelinen näppäilykohtaus antaa kuulijalle hetken armopalan piinavan viisikymmenminuuttisen keskellä.
Levy ei silti ole sieltä junnaavimmasta päästä. Riffit vaihtuvat jouhevasti ajallaan, ja biisit tuntuvat menevän eteenpäin, vaikka yli kymmenminuuttisia ovatkin. Draaman kaari on rakennettu hienosti, ja loppuhuipennukset ovat vertaansa vailla. Painostava tunnelma venytetään äärimmilleen, ja lopulta sen annettaan purkautua valtavalla voimalla ja vimmalla. Melko yksinkertaisista aineksista on saatu aikaan todella vahvatunnelmainen kokonaisuus, joka vangitsee, kiduttaa ja lopulta palkitsee kuulijan. Paganuksella on vahvasti näpeissään hyvän hevin peruselementit: äärimmäinen raskaus ja raaka voima.
Vampster.com
Wer bei dem Namen "Paganus" an romantisches Landleben denkt, an friedliebende Heiden, die Mutter Erde und den Göttern der Natur huldigen, während sie ihren kleinen Acker bestellen und ihre Schafherde hüten, der hat die Rechnung ohne diese Finnen gemacht. Unter dem Banner PAGANUS klopfen hier finstere, blutrünstige Barbaren an die Tür Deiner Hütte.
Extremer, fieser Dröhn-Doom ist angesagt, der einem reichlich kalte Schauer über den Rücken laufen lässt. Der Titelsong transportiert die Gruselstimmung von BLACK SABBATHs "Black Sabbath" in ein weitaus derberes Gewand mit zermürbender Schwere und kratzig drohenden bis böse grollenden Vocals. Ähnlich aufs Gemüt drückend kriechen PAGANUS durch vier Songs, die für Fans von Sludge- und Doom/Death-Acts wie z.B. BURNING WITCH oder auch NEUROSIS ein Fest sind. Denn wo viele ähnliche Bands durch derbes Rumgedröhne eher langweilen oder nerven, da schaffen es PAGANUS, sich an die Psyche des Zuhörers heranzuschleichen und einen eisig kalten Schleier um einen zu legen. Man spielt mit den Gefühlen des Zuhörers und fesselt ihn. Hier hört man gerne zu, nachts bei Kerzenschein und immer mit ein wenig Angst im Nacken. Für meine Doom-Favoriten 2008 haben sich PAGANUS schon jetzt einen Platz gesichert.
live4metal.com
In experiments in supermarkets, shopping malls and other consumer outfits, they have found that piping relaxing, middle of the road pop music can have a dramatic effect on the amount of money that the shoppers are prepared to pay. Hence, while walking around your local S-Mart, you may have your aural senses assaulted by the latest pop-lite sensations, wondering why you feel strangely drawn to a massive packet of Cheesy, delicious Doritos*. In similar experiments, I have piped the feel-bad vibes of Paganus through the P.A. System of my local shopporium. The resulting scene was not unlike the final few scenes from the original “Dawn of the Dead” movie. Paganus are a Finnish extreme doom band, and present to us here in their four track, almost fifty minutes of ear-bashing grimness a piece of the most engaging, spiky heavy soundscape. Limited to a run of only 1000 copies on the first CD run, this is likely to acquire a cult (or should that be Kvlt?) following pretty quickly, being mid placed as it is between the likes of riff-mangling outfits like High on Fire, and the more extreme sound of the ouvre such as Burning Witch. Actually, the most accurate comparison would be the sound of the defunct Belgian doom-mongers, Thee Plague of Gentlemen at their most torturous. As I have said, this is not feel-good music in any sense of the world. Each riff has been constructed out of equal parts feedback and anguish, and hammered into shape by tools made out of pure misery and torture. Slow, crushing guitars and bass combine to act like slowly tightening hands throttling your good cheer to death. The drums, of course, are simple but rather effective, and there is a hypnotic quality to the mental soundscapes conjured by these wizards of dischord. “Blood Soaked Boots”, for example, rumbles on for over eight minutes, turning at points like a wounded snake, but ever present is an aura of utter malice and hate. If it's all about the atmosphere, baby, then this is Jupiter.
The production is as thick as the fog in a Hammer House of Horror film, and the the sound of the instruments cut through the murk with their angular rawness, each note seemingly dripping with menace. If this production was a character from Grange Hill, it'd be Gripper Stebson. I'm not joking, seldom have I heard a sound that was more based about menace and absolute belligerence. If you're a doom fan, then get a hold of this: it's like a piece of 2 x 4 smashed into your face. Review by Chris Davison
BurningBlack.net
S/T (Totalrust Music) This Finnish band, formed back in 2000, have released three works at the time, being “Paganus” their third release and first full length album. This is the first time I listen to this vicious quintet, and I must say this band kick asses, their style could be labelled as a morbid, raw and extreme Doom Metal in the sickest vein of bands such Burning Witch and Khanate. Crawling, sludgy and crude riffs fill this album from the beginning to the end, moving not only through the obligatory agonizingly slow passages, but also exploring convulsing and violent mid tempos, complemented by a varied and versatile drumming that provides a strong and solid base for the whole musicianship. The sick voice of Markus Lanki adds the most extreme element of the entire album, delivering an incredibly sick and varied work that ranges from, dirty screams, obscure growls to blackish shrieks, pretty much in the same vein of Alan Dubin (Khanate), but always adding a personal touch, maintaining a strong sense of originality over this album. Even when is hard not to compare the somewhat chaotic and noisy sound of Paganus with bands like Burning Witch or Khanate, the style delivered by Paganus here is slightly more “structured” than the mentioned bands, even though, of course, we can still find here noisy and feverish musical deliriums… maybe another good point of comparison, talking about structures, would be the sludgy sound of High On Fire or even Sleep. The whole album production is very strong, there’s some reasonable amount of bass here and there, but that’s ok, especially considering the extremely low and dirty music this quintet plays… anyway, every instrument and its respective crude performance is clearly hearable… The disharmonic atmospheres of this album are an infernal trip through the sickest and claustrophobic depths of the human psyche, where there’s no place for melody, harmony or beauty, just death, violence and destruction in its most primal form. Fans of the extreme and raw Doom Metal run for your copy, this album could be the wisest addition to your collection in the last time… (AP)
Obliveon Metal und gothic magazine
Seit 2000 treiben die Finnen ihr Unwesen im finstersten Doom. Mit dem gleichnamigen Album veröffentlicht man nun sein Debüt auf dem auf Doom Metal spezialisierten israelischen Label Total Rust. Auch wenn „Paganus“ nur vier Stücke enthält, so handelt es sich bei gut 50 Minuten Laufzeit um einen echten Longplayer. Angefüllt mit extrem schweren und doomigen Soundscapes, rohen Riffs und durchaus variablen Vocals wird sich jeder Fan von Khanate oder Neurosis an dem Material erfreuen können. Klingt die Stimme von Sänger Markus Lanki auf dem gleichnamigen Opener „Paganus“ noch nach fieser Echsenstimme, so röhrt er auf dem zweiten Song „Blood Soaked Boots“ (lasst euch von der Playlist im CD-Cover, wonach „Skullsplitter“ der zweite Track sein soll, nicht verwirren) viel breiter und voller. Instrumental betrachtet findet ihr bei den Finnen viele lang gezogene Töne sowie dumpfes Dröhnen und sich ewig wiederholende träge Riffs. Aber auch wenn die Songs manchmal etwas zu lang geraten scheinen, so übermannt den Hörer doch nie bleischwere Müdigkeit. Höchstens bleischwere Riffs.
7/10 - SBr
AbsolutZeroMedia.us
Ah more soul crushing doom from the Total rust camp. This time the band adds a more black metal twist to there Doom infliction to the world. This reminds me more of bands like Worship, Ancient Wisdom, Catacombs . The guitars are very slow and lumbering, the drums are a slower mid tempo. Were the Bass comes from no one knows but its so low and brutal it hurts so good. There are very calm moments that almost come across as early Dolorian vibe. but then at fuzzy noise doom guitar cuts in with a very grim black/ sludge vocal attack. Paganus is one interesting combination of two great metal styles melded together to almost fevered pitch. A band to watch this could be a massive release if the right people get there hands on it.....
Grey Day Zine
SOBRE LA BANDA:
Turno para una nueva formación venida desde Finlandia, mas concretamente un quinteto de la pequeña Hamina. Paganus llevan existiendo desde el año 2000. Tocan Doom, sin condimentos ni especias, aunque por instantes son tan crudos en las tareas vocales, que se les puede meter dentro del Sludge. Paganus han decidido llamar a su primer álbum de igual forma que la banda Paganus, dándoles la alternativa musical el sello de Jerusalem Total-Rust Music.
ME GUSTA:
Que a pesar de no ser originales, ni innovar demasiado, suenan de la ostia y parece que tienen las ideas muy claras sobre la música que tocan y el resultado que quieren obtener. Me encanta el trabajo vocal realizado por Markus Lanki, ya sea en limpio o en gutural, el tipo tiene el feeling perfecto para la música de Paganus. No aparece en demasiadas ocasiones a lo largo de Paganus, pero los ruidos y efectos sonoros que incluye Mikko Nenonen, son excepcionales y siempre en el momento adecuado, ademas me recuerdan a otros monstruos de este estilo como son los ingleses Arachnotaur.
ME DISGUSTA:
La producción, no es del todo maravillosa, pero como tantas bandas irán mejorando conforme vayan publicando mas discos y teniendo mas pasta para gastar. El bajista Teemu Muhli, no tiene demasiado protagonismo a lo largo del CD, cuando en las partes en las que le dan cancha, hace cosas muy interesantes. Tener que pensar cosas que no me gustan sobre ellos, ya que no las encuentro fácilmente ^_^.
MEJORES TEMAS:
1.Paganus - Es la canción mas conocida de la banda y me encanta la parte final del tema.
2.Blood Soaked Boots - El corte del CD de menor duración, aunque igualmente intenso.
3.Skullsplitter - En este tema el bajista tiene sus momentos de gloria y el tipo lo borda :)
4.Stab - El principio y final de Stab son apocalípticos, primero con ruidos para acabar con ganas de destrozarlo todo.
ULTIMAS PALABRAS:
Paganus es el tipo de banda que yo adoro, tienen todo lo que me gusta y sin ser unos virtuosos, me transfieren unas sensaciones que pocas bandas pueden darme. Se que es su primer disco y que quizás este muy emocionado con ellos, pero espero que comiencen a ganarse buena reputación dentro del Doom Sludge y la critica en general les apoye, para que puedan seguir adelante con su carrera musical. Sin duda alguna el debut de Paganus es una compra segura si te gusta el Doom o el Sludge y aunque sea pronto para vaticinarlo, creo que ira de cabeza al Top del 2008 de Grey Day Zine dentro de la sección de Album Debut.
VALORACION GREY DAY ZINE: 5/6
Diabolicalconquest.com
Meet Paganus. They write songs about stabbing. Or maybe they write about getting stabbed -- the best art is widely interpretable anyway. Perhaps misleadingly, the back of my promo case recommends this to fans of Neurosis and High On Fire. Well, maybe; Paganus have their share of crusty Neurosis dynamics. But High On Fire? That's kind of like saying "fans of Mastodon may also enjoy the musical stylings of Japanese doomsday cults." I mean sure, I won't rule it out, but the noise these miserablist doom barons from Finland conjure is a more dire and acidic affair than the consumers of commercial pseudo-doom to whom this is marketed may be able to stomach.
A superior comparison to that of High On Fire would be Sleep at their most pensive and endurance-testing, but with critical levels of Burning Witch scariness and dun-dun-dun-bloaawrgh vintage Cathedral ponderousness & caveman drums; pretty much what you'd expect from a band with song titles like "Skullsplitter." In other words, awesome. More arduous to pigeonhole are the vocals, which range from creepy arthropodal rasping to salty, hoarse bellowing with a goofy faux-Southern accent, but always appropriately fey and hostile. He sounds, in a word, constipated. I know calling a singer constipated is the dullest cliche in music next to the pithy mantra of concentrated non-insight that is "technicality does not equal good music," but it's an understatement in this case; it sounds like the vocalist is passing fish hooks and salt.
While Paganus is about as low and slow as doom can get without transcending into drone or funeral doom, much of the album's inaccessibility is drawn from a rather nauseous contrast of elements. For example, the Triassic "Stab" begins with a layer of harsh, swelling noise that sounds as if derived from Japan, but Paganus cut that shit out in matter of seconds before fifteen minutes of barely mobile ooga booga stegosaurus doom. On the other hand, the initially asphyxiating "Skullsplitter" climaxes on the note of the singer rapturously babbling about his "inner sailor" accompanied by some post-rock jangliness and scratchy electronic textures. Huh. So the balance of this album is occasionally questionable, but when you hear the vocalist howling "my boots are soaked with bloooaawwrrd! My boooots...!" over a lumbering narrative of downtuned doom riffage, it's difficult not to be taken regardless of the band's various wobbly atmospheric discourses.
At times it seems like these guys don't know where they're going, but fuck it, that's almost always more fun than having a destination. Although Paganus may not be self-consciously weird or pretty enough to attract the art-rock crowd to whom they occasionally pander, if you like the sound of tarblack sludge with a strikingly cerebral bent, you'd do well to hear this.
Rating:7.9