Korpiklaani – Ukon Wacka (2011)

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Finish Folk Metal boozeheads Korpiklaani return with another highly energetic release that will satisfy your Folk Metal needs for months to come. In the spirit of the band’s previous releases “Ukon Wacka” feels like a party from start to end, and with a track named “Tequila”, we all know how this party is going to end.

As any fan of the band (or the genre for that matter) can imagine, the band’s unique brand of ‘folkiness’ and energy makes their music a delightful experience, even if you don’t like Folk Metal. With “Ukon Wacka”, the band continues building on their previous releases by making their sound more concise and effective.

The album kicks off with “Louhen Yhdeksäs Poika”, a song that in 3 minutes pack all the high-energy antics of the band in a very powerful opening song. The instrumentation (violin, jouhikko, bagpipes, Flute, and accordion) in all songs is top notch and creates a very thick Folk atmosphere that is very well preserved with the lyrics in Finish, giving the full authentic feeling to the bands music.

While the folk sections are rocking your speakers, the band delivers high-powered riffs and drums to keep things Metal and keep people head banging all through the album. This is one of the features that we love about Korpiklaani and their music, since it never gets too boggled down in their Folk stuff and sounds a lot like a mixture of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal with some nice folk influences.

The high point of the album has to be the “Tequila” song, named after the Mexican drink; you know it’s a party every time that Tequila is involved. It’s very cool that the band decided to add this track as tribute to their South American fans, it also adds to their long list of drinking anthems. Most of the songs in this album are of equal quality and sound exactly like you would expect from the band. The title track “Ukon Wacka” and it’s folky passages is another of the highlights of this album, a bit slower paced than the rest but equally enjoyable.

In general, we have to agree that Korpiklaani is one of the best Folk Metal bands these days. Their combination of catchy melodies and solid folk arrangements makes them very easy to listen and never dull. Their inclination for party-type of songs and overall chaos and mayhem makes them one of our favorite bands for when we are drinking with friends and want to get into the true Finish mode of drinking (which is drinking… a lot).

Band: Korpiklaani Album: Ukon Wacka
Label: Nuclear Blast Records

Release: February 15th, 2011 (USA)

Official Site myspace
Genre: Folk Metal

Country: Finland

Rating: 85/100
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