Artist: Musta Paraati
Title: Tavastia 2019
Genre: Post Punk / Goth
Release Date: 5th December 2023
Label: Deggael
Album Review
It was a cold night in March 2019 when a crowd clad in black gathered at Tavastia to attend a gig of legendary band MUSTA PARAATI. The record starts with an atmospheric intro and you can hear the audience mumbling while waiting for the show. With a span of 1:30 minutes it’s a bit long and especially as the instruments kick in for another two minutes before the vocals start. But you have a great memory of the band addressing the audience, thanking them for showing up tonight. The song is proof of the band’s early times, when music was really heavy and it comes vocals in Finnish.
Next comes ‘Radio’ a song from the band’s release ‘Black Parade’ in a version that is a lot faster than the one of the album. Unfortunately, Jyrki69 seems to struggle to hit the notes perfectly, maybe due to the straightforward pace during this live performance. ‘Aujourd’hui’ is a slower one with a stomping beat, the vocals are more profound on this one and the instruments perfectly in tune, although the vocals over drone them a bit. ‘The Race Is On’ comes with really great guitar hooks, but the vocals somehow sound pretty flat, as if Jyrki was unable to hit the high notes from the studio recording and the energetic chorus is very flat as well. The shouts and screams don’t balance this out although they brought plenty of energy to the audience.
‘Reaper’ starts with the audience’s applause for ‘Race Is On’ before an atmospheric synthesizer intro and heavy guitars push the song forward. The balance between what sounds almost like spoken words or shouts and clear singing was obviously hard to find during this song for Jyrki69. ‘Digital Twin’ starts with drummer Ykä counting in the band, reminding you of RAMONES legendary ‘onetwothreefour’. The song punches you directly from the front and comes with a very high-speed level for this band. Again, it seems to be a bit faster than on the record and again it seems that vocals and instruments don’t perfectly fit together in the beginning. After half the song, the whole fits together a lot better. A well-deserved applause becomes audible after the song fades out.
‘Animosity’ is one of the best songs the band ever released with a wonderful dark guitar intro. The band’s album ‘Black Parade’ opened with this one and it’s the first song on this live album that comes with the vocal quality you are used to from Jyrki69, almost as if he needed the previous songs for a warmup. According to the audience’s applause, it seemed the audience felt the same. ‘Today’ comes with a haunting guitar intro and the energetic live vocals add a lot to this song. ‘Chopsticks’ is counted by Ykä and the great melody of this song is carried by all the instruments. The band released a great live video of this one on YouTube. ‘Nacht der Untoten’ starts with atmospheric Synthies before Ykä counts in and the guitars and bass kick in with the drums. Unfortunately, it seems that the pace doesn’t fit Jyrki’s voice and the vocals sound a bit unbalanced.
‘If I Die Tomorrow’ comes with haunting guitars and pronounced drums. Archie69 on bass gives this song a wonderful edgy attitude that is a lot heavier than on the album release. ‘Hyvää Yötä’ is greeted loudly by an excited fan and a proof of the bands heavy sound during their earlier decades. Archie69 gives this one an extra heavy bass attitude and Jyrki69 really strives to address the songs legacy perfectly. ‘Peilitalo’ is another legendary song from the band’s earlier decades, unfortunately the Synthies are a bit too loud on this one during the lead vocals parts, but the fans loudly applauded for this strong live performance. ‘The Leader’ takes you back to the bands current release. The instruments give this song a great Goth atmosphere, but Jyrki seems to be torn between spoken word attitude and clean vocals.
The band’s all-time classic ‘Romanssi’ finishes the set. You can almost feel the force Jyrki puts behind the vocals and he doesn’t fail to meet the songs legacy. Plus, this is the song where you really can hear the bands backing vocals. This one relay left me thinking “Wow!”. The songs outro leaves you hearing the band thanking the audience for coming out once more and the audience loud cheering and applause for a great live concert.
Live records are always a double-edged sword. This one has a focus on what happened on stage, but you can hear the audience’s reaction and the bands announcements. You want to own the limited-edition record if you attended the gig, to have a perfectly mastered edition of what happened that night. If you didn’t attend the gig you want to own it, to have a physical proof of the bands last live gig with Jyrki69 on vocals.
Tracklist
01. Kädet
02. Radio
03. Aujourd´Hui
04. The Race Is On
05. Reaper
06. Digital Twin
07. Animosity
08. Today
09. Chopsticks
10. Nacht Der Untoten
11. If I Die Tomorrow
12. Hyvää Yötä
13. Peilitalo
14. The Leader
15. Romanssi
Line-up (current members - not as on the record)
Herra Ylppö – Vocals
Saku Paasiniemi – Guitars, Backing Vocals
Karo Broman – Bass, Backing Vocals
Ykä Knuuttila – Drums, Backing Vocals
Kari Tornack – Keyboards
Website
https://www.facebook.com/mustaparaati/
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 7
Sound: 7
Total: 7 / 10
Comments powered by CComment