The word coda literally means the end of a ‘separate passage at the end of something such as a book or a speech that finishes it off”. In other words, it can mean that something is at its end, or to change in a way that the past will means nothing when the future is near. With both ideas in head, maybe “Coda”, the new EP if the Finnish quintet RIFFTERA could be pointing to something. Musically, the band is a crossing between influences from Melodic Death Metal (in the Finnish Melodic Death Metal School ways) and Thrash Metal, but with clear traces of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal on it, and even experimental Prog Metal ways (pay attention to the keyboards and clean parts heard on “Quicksand” to have a clear idea of what these words mean).

It means that their musical work blends melodies and aggressiveness alike, having a courageous avant-garde insight in terms of instrumental arrangements (the songs are rich in this sense), with very good contrasts between harsh and clean vocals, and how their music sounds great and full of energy. Yes, it’s truly excellent! Janne Hietala (the band’s guitarist and vocalist) worked as producer (and did the sound engineering, recordings and mixing), with Sami Koivisto taking care of the mastering (and the recording of the drums), and Mikko Kuoppamaa (the other guitarist and vocalist of the quartet) on the additional recording. All to build a thunderous and heavy sonority, but that sounds clean and defined as well, allowing the fans to understand clearly what’s being musically expressed.

On “Carved in Skin” (excellent guitar riffs and arrangements into a Thrash Metal way), “Quicksand” (here the experimental/avant-garde side of their music becomes evident, with excellent technical appeal, great keyboards parts and contrasts between clean and harsh vocals) and “No Turning Back” (another very good atmospheric moment with very good parts of bass guitar and drums due the contrasts between tender and aggressive parts), the listeners will deal with a courageous band that has no fear to defy musical models and put their own ideas. And their own version for IRON MAIDEN’s “Moonchild” (with excellent new instrumental arrangements added to the original melodic lines) depicts from where the band’s courage to do unexpected things come.

After listening to “Coda”, it’s clear that RIFFTERA deserves applause, and I truly wish that the EP’s name isn’t meaning that the band is going to retire from the scene. 🤘🏻 🤘🏻 🤘🏻