Minus One World - Sewage [EP] (2013, Self-released)

Finland has a long and proud tradition of doom-laden death metal centered around the gloomy and atmospheric aspects of death metal. Many great bands portraying this style has emerged from Finland in both the 90's and more recent times, but leave it to Minus One World from Salo to break the traditions. Minus One World was created in 2008, but we would write 2013 before hearing any actual releases from them.

Where tradition dictates that Finnish death metal would be filthy and abrasive, Minus One World are upbeat and almost pleasant. When traditional Finnish death metal is slow and churning, Minus One World are fast. Among the thrashy riffs and roaring vocals there's really only a few things tying them to the Finnish scene. Obviously all regional scenes have deviations and new tendencies, but with Minus One World's first EP "Sewage" it is primarily the thick production that lets the mind wander to the gloomy forests of the land of a thousand lakes.

It may sound strange to some that the young Finnish band have waited 5 years before releasing anything. But this has a certain benefit; The Sewage EP doesn't really have those inferior, juvenile and undesirable qualities that many young bands have on their early material and as such feels a lot more polished, something that is clearly evident in the material they present on the EP. It doesn't suffer from many common birth defects like shitty production, half-assed songwriting and riffs that go nowhere.

But even so there are a few unsavory things present on the EP. Minus One World focus on a more melodic and groovy approach than many other bands, and especially when you throw in thrash riffs you really have to make sure your riffs are rock solid, and unfortunately they aren't. The fledgling band deliver their material with much energy and fervor making it hard not to get dragged in and carried away and just enjoy the music, but I think that it is an EP one wouldn't be enticed to return to. It has its fast and slow parts, it has groovy parts and more brutal parts, but overall Minus One World's Sewage EP is an uninteresting effort when compared to other bands of the same type. 6/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Kalli Halki Maahan
2. Target
3. Empire Strikes Back
4. Sewage

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