The fact that this is a Black Metal band is more than obvious. I started writing down some notes about this release and I found some interesting info along the way. Even though it took some time to understand what is going on with the line up, I finally realized that the album has been recorded by these three guys. And the main guy, Ruoja will definitely be well known to most of you.
So, AJATARRA were formed in 1996 in Helsinki, Finland. AJATARRA is an evil goddess of the forests in Finnish mythology. The interesting fact, which I didn't know about this band, is that it is a side project of AMORPHIS frontman, Pasi Koskinen. Apare is their fourth full-length album. All of their albums have been released through Spikefarm.
So, the Finnish blacksters produce a mid tempo Black Metal album that even though avoids the classic Black Metal that is full of blasts and stuff, it manages not to sound fresh and different. While listening to this album, there were times when I was wandering why does Ruoja play something like this since he is producing great things with AMORPHIS. AJATTARA's previous works were much more inspired, but it seems that now, the band just follows the good old recipe and releases an album that lacks of inspiration and new ideas. The level of this album and the level of their earlier ones cannot be compared at all! Even though the album starts quite good, it ends up being boring in a very short time. The songs are structured in a very amateur way and you can just listen to simple riffs, the one after the other. Nothing is able to surprise the listener. One word that can describe this release is the word predictable. The album's total playing time isn't more than 33 minutes. I can also say that the synths are used a lot, something that instead of creating a darker atmosphere, makes the sound tiring.
All in all, Apare is an album that proves that Black Metal lacks of new ideas. In my humble opinion, if you want to listen to something by this band, better go buy one of their earlier albums, for example the really nice Kuolema (2003).