"Kalmah seems to be one of those bands that doesn't like to change their sound like some of those other 'lilly pad jumper' bands out there. Instead they just rely on progressing their music, as in just getting better with playing, song composition, timing, and instrumental blending. Alas if you lay out Kalmah's discography and listen to each one in order of release (probably with the exception of Black Waltz), you will notice that not only does the latter of each released album just sound more cool, but it is actually better than the one before it.
It is actually quite impressive how far this band has come. FTR is very instrumental, well composed, progressively thrashy melodic death metal at its core. And the vocalist has backed off some of the death vocals and threw in some more of higher thrash vocals like older Kalmah did. So with that said, I'll leave to you to imagine how outstanding For the Revolution sounds compared to its predecessors.
For The Revolution is definitely a nominee for album of the year but the reason I give only 4 stars is simple: ITS NO BLACK WALTZ. And if every album Kalmah put out sounded like The Black Waltz then it woundn't be that great of an album, now would it?"
Great Melodic Death metal album!
Michael A. Carra | bronx, new york | 12/09/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Kalmah as been on a roll the past few years putting out great albums one after another all with something new and fresh about it. This new album "for the revolution" continues the roll of greatness. Its pretty much a mix of their last 2 albums. the vocals continue to have more of a focus on the deep growls like their previous album "the black waltz" but this time they add more of the higher scream screeches from their earlyer work in the mix too, but its still pretty much dominated by the growls (which i think is a good thing). the music this time is more riff orientated than their last 2 albums. less epic, but it still has its melodic epic parts just not as many as usual. the guitar playing is still great. many great solos on this album! same can be said about the keyboards! great keyboard playing. the drummer is like a damn machine very tight rhythem section in general! overall is is a amazing melodic death metal album with very talented musicians in it. i give it 4 starts simply cause its not up to the level of "the black waltz" that album was a masterpeice. this album still is great though give it a listen!
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Awesome Album With Some of the Weirdest Lyrics You'll Ever R
Blake Corvin | Walkertown, NC, USA | 02/26/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Ok, Kalmah has always been sweet. My first Kalmah record was "Swamplord" and I've been a fan since. This record is even better than their previous stuff (besides "Black Waltz") because of the guttural vocals being added. It adds a whole other dimension of brutality to Kalmah. So, solid release. But let's talk about these confusing a** lyrics. For starters, they compare Charles Darwin to Adolf Hitler. Uhhh, what? I don't know which Vladimir they slam in their songs but I'm pretty sure it's against some sort of silly communist/socialist ideology, which is cool considering I hate communists. But seriously, why would you compare Darwin to Hitler? I had no idea Kalmah was so religious. There's a lot of references to God creating the world and about how God's way is the only way. Their is also a song called "Outremer" which as you could guess, glorifies the Christian Crusades. I mean, the Crusades were pretty brutal and awesome, but it's just kind of weird coming from Kalmah. There's also a lot of environmentalist garbage thrown in. I mean, the lyrics just don't make any sense unless Kalmah are some sort of tree-huggin' Christians. Did I miss something from their previous releases? Did they find Jesus? I'm not some sort of anti-Christian by any means and I don't care what their beliefs are, just strange. Half of the environmentalist songs have lyrics that would seem to be written by some liberal college freshman after his first class with his pony-tailed, liberal, flip-flop wearing environmental studies professor. A little bit douchey considering there's no scientific evidence that industry is causing a climate change and most of the global warming fanatics have already crawled back under their rocks, defeated. Yet there is a ton of proof that man did, in fact, evolve from apes. But hey, whatever, this Kalmah release is awesome as usual, buy it from Amazon. Five stars. I love these weirdos."
A band which defies definition
Almost Home | undisclosed | 10/27/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"If you are checking into this album, chances are you already know a little bit about Kalmah. After all, they aren't really a band people typically stumble upon randomly. But what is Kalmah? Is it a power-metal influenced melodic death metal band? Is it the other way around? Or are they simply something different altogether? From their roots in Finland to the generous use of keyboards many have used the phrase "If you like Children of Bodom, you will like Kalmah." This sells Kalmah short. They are no CoB clones. They have a much darker and more menacing sound. This album captures that very well and serves as a great introduction to the band. I suppose if one needed to compare them to Children of Bodom, I would say they sound like CoB mixed with generous helpings of Amon Amarth. This is most evident in the vocals. Kalmah's vocals are far deeper than Alexi's screeching. The musicianship is not flashy here. What this is is a solid effort from a talented band. Does it get weird sometimes? Sure. But, they are from Finland. What do you expect? Four stars."