I have lost count of how many times have I stated that Scandinavian countries are the cream of the crop in the Metal music universe. I don't know what is 'the matter' with them, but every new band formed in North Europe has something good to say and of course play. This time we have SAPATTIVUOSI from Finland who decided to stir things up creating the third cover album containing BLACK SABBATH monuments sung in Finnish.
The band started -of course- as a part time project formed by some BLACK SABBATH fans who just wanted to have fun. Things got really interesting when this company had the idea of translating the lyrics into Finnish and -why not?- make an album out of it. Their maiden release was litteraly praised by the press and the fans who gave it the seventh place in the Finnish charts. From that point things were going upwards and SAPATTIVUOSI created a second album conquering their home country charts for the second time. By that time this project merely reached the end of the road but the idea to produce an album covering Dio's era hold them together with a new guy behind the microphone. Marco Hietala from NIGHTWISH and TAROT accepted their proposition and not long after the third tribute album got flesh and bones.
Despite the fact that are countless versions of BLACK SABBATH monoliths the Finnish act manages to take one step further and make this album definitely interesting. First of all the Finnish strange pronunciation adds something unique to the over-played and over-covered SABBATH songs. Secondly, Marco sings with his TAROT voice feeling totally free from the rather restricted boundaries of NIGHTWISH rightfully set by Tuomas Holopainen. Do not expect to find differences in the music since they respectfully follow the original arrangement with minor adjustments to fit the 'strange' sounding lyrics. All the work was made on the lyrics that sound really enticing gaining one level-up by Marco passionate performance approaching the originals as a genuine die-hard fan. The album -as expected- comprises all the 'radio hits' from the Dio era without surprises. Actually, this is the only complaint I can make about Ihmisen Merkki; I would like to have Lonely Is The World or Falling Off The Edge Of The Word but hey, all the SABBATH/Dio songs are classics; don't they?
If I was asked to pick my favorites here that would be Tuli Ja Maa with the hard hitting bass guitar and the killer epos of Ihmisen Merkki that sounds out of this world through the guitar effects in the beginning and the dominating electronic finishing touches.
Yeah I strongly recommend this one since it is the definition of a cover album; there are changes to sink your teeth in and enjoy this beautiful sounding language.
Off topic: I think Tuomas should think of using more of Marco's voice in NIGHTWISH and leave the female vocals to rest. After all this sound has been copied way too much!