LÄJÄ ÄIJÄLÄ AND ALBERT WITCHFINDER: Triumph & Ordeal

Release year: 2023
Label: Svart Records

When speaking of legends within Finnish extreme music, they don’t come much more legendary than Läjä Äijälä. Vocalist and band leader of hardcore pioneers Terveet Kädet (whose most recent album we reviewed here), not to mention the man behind a whole slew of other acts, the man has been pushing the envelope for over 40 years by now.

Albert Witchfinder, on the other hand, is something of an iconic figure of a slightly younger generation. Having etched himself into the annals of Finnish metal with doom revivalists Reverend Bizarre, he has since gone on to create music in an eclectic array of genres and styles. My personal favourite project of his is the esoteric-mystical electronic project Tähtiportti.

So, what is the result when these two join forces?

First of all, not metal or hardcore. Their joint project is an experimental/electronic/industrial thing. This, their second joint album, is an album of understated, sometimes even quite minimalistic electronic experimentalism.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to people familiar with the two artists. Äijälä has for decades been interested in synthesizers and in creating unusual sounds with them; he has even released several albums of minimalist electronica under his given name Veli-Matti O Äijälä. Albert Witchfinder, on the other hand, has apart from the aforementioned Tähtiportti released the experimental album Chambers under his given name Sami Hynninen as a collaboration with Olli Hänninen.

On Ordeal & Triumph, Äijälä bears the main responsibility for the music, whilst Hynninen handles vocals and provides percussion and guitar. The latter instrument is not in any particularly significant role on the album.

Secondly, the result is less than it could have been. The main reason is that I just don’t feel the vocals. They feel very tacked on, unnecessary and even counterproductive. Most of the time, the music would work better without vocals.

Äijälä weaves stripped-down, understated layers of droning, buzzing and pulsating synths. Upon these, sparse melodic or rhythmic elements are added. Äijälä utilizes repetition and structural minimalism to create lengthy, rather hypnotic compositions (the album consists of three tracks, all clocking in at about 20 minutes). There’s nothing harsh, abrasive or confrontational about the music: only the uninitiated would call this “extreme” in any way. No, this is not noise as such, although some have called it that; rather, it’s somewhere in the middle ground between drone, dark ambient and old school industrial.

And then, on top of these, Witchfinder bellows, growls and grunts his vocals. Not only are the vocals a bit too loud in the mix; they come off as an afterthought of the arrangement. To reiterate: tacked on.

In the context of the duo’s previous works, parallells to the aforementioned Chambers can certainly be drawn on Witchfinder’s part. On the other hand, Äijälä has collaborated with Bizarre Uproar mastermind Pasi Markkula to create old school, synth-driven industrial noise as Vihanmiehet – a slightly harsher, but not entirely dissimilar entity, which is much superior to this.

The bottom line of Ordeal & Triumph is that it’s a bit of a letdown. The music itself has potential, although perhaps the track lengths are a bit excessive. The vocals, not so much. And in the context of what the two have created separately, Ordeal & Triumph just doesn’t cut it. Both have done much better stuff, even within electronic/experimental music. As such, I expected more – and feel justified in expecting more.

In other words, these ordeals don’t lead to a triumph.

Visit Läjä Äijälä & Albert Witchfinder on Bandcamp