50.
KIUASLustdrivenPower Metal(ish)
released 2010 on Spinefarm Records
1. "Kiuassault" 4:37
2. "Cry Little Angel" 3:59
3. "Of Love, Lust and Human Nature" 4:05
4. "Aftermath" 5:23
5. "Lights Are Many" 4:52
6. "The Visionary" 6:34
7. "Heart and Will" 4:32
8. "The Quickening" 4:00
9. "Summer's End" 5:03
10. "Winter's Sting" 5:43
Kiuas were
Ilja Jalkanen – vocals
Mikko Salovaara – guitars, vocals
Markku Näreneva – drums
Atte Tanskanen – keyboard
Teemu Tuominen – bass guitar
Kiuas are pretty much unknown to many who listen to heavy music. I discovered them back in 2005 via their debut for Spinefarm Records (Finland). At the time I was travelling to Helsinki annually, staying with a good friend who was at the time working for the same record label.
He (Marko) was also a well known music journalist, so he would tell me about all the up and coming Finnish bands and of course supply promos for me to review.
One of these bands that stood out was Kiuas, even though I've labelled them power metal, they really are and were hard to categorise.
Though the band only made four albums before splitting, all of them are strong offering a variety of metal flavours within each album.
I chose their final offering, Lustdriven, because it's probably their most melodic and easily the most played CD I own from them.
Although it's their most accessible release, pick beneath the top layer and you'll find a proverbial onion to pick over that after many listens is very rewarding.
First off the songwriting is superb, has lots of great riffs, hooks and most of all strong vocals from Ilja Jalkanen.
Guitarist Mikko wrote most of the songs, also produced and generally looked after the band.
This album delivers a big sound, the band could get pretty heavy, but also allowed lots of space for the other instruments to breathe.
But what set's this album apart from their other's, is the sheer amount of variety in the songs and different styles.
You have epic orchestral sounds, mixed in with fast heavy guitars, then slow acoustic guitars which is nothing new, but done so well and with a hint of originality.
I could have placed this a lot higher, but I wanted this band to get some attention straight off the bat with this new top 50.
I could blabber on about this forever, but proof is in the listening, below are a couple of links to some official video's.
Of Love , Lust and Human Nature
https://youtu.be/i1OO3c1j3WILustdriven album teaser part 1
https://youtu.be/ttUb5eIgPWMLustdriven album teaser part 2
https://youtu.be/XdV9kBlVvhkUnfortuneatly this album is not on Spotify, but their previous three are.