Onkalo - Onkalo

It’s been a while since I knew something from punk bands. I confess that for a long time punk rock hasn’t been my thing. But times change, and so do we. The more I was digging for extreme music, the more near I got from hardcore. And I haven’t noticed that hardcore bands do have changed too. Take Onkalo, for instance. This effort, S/T, is very near to extreme metal bands. The difference are on the lyrics, but that’s not too far now, and that there are no guitar solos among the songs. In general, most hardcore bands don’t change too much the pace or the atmospheres from their songs, but Onkalo does. There a lot of modern or alternative touches in this effort. The guitar lines are much more complex and full of effects. This is what we listen in “The Following”. It’s almost doom.

Also are the vocals. S/T’s vocal lines are much more near alternative metal than hardcore. Onkalo is sure a band that can please both tribes. And that’s great for both movements, Metal and punk. The first track, “Mummer” is the one reminds much of a hardcore song. Even the mocking spirit of Toy Dolls in the middle of the song. But I guess that wasn’t the real intent, though. The beginning of “Blood On Your Hands” reminds a lot more hardcore style. It begin slow to in a sudden transform into as furious as hardcore can be. That’s the spirit, guys! But Onkalo is much more than that. Onkalo show here a very complex songwriting that leads hardcore to a brand new level. A level that I would never expect.

As we used to in the 1980s: United forces!