Review by Alex on May 13, 2021.

Rogga Johansson is having a phenomenal run in the Swedish death metal soundscape. It was only a few months ago he steered the direction of side project Revolting that saw massive success with the release of The Shadow At The World's End. Now he is back once more to captain the ship on Eye of Purgatory's 2nd full-length album The Lighthouse; and man what a marvelous job he was able to pull off this time also in steady winning momentum as demonstrated with Revolting. The guy is like salt when it comes to death metal, you can't find a band or project he hasn't touched in Sweden. His presence in metal is a gift and The Lighthouse as with so many other albums makes this implication.

The Lighthouse is a very good installment to the project being Eye of Purgatory, it takes Swedish death metal and mixes it with 2nd wave black metal melodies done in Dissection style. The two strongholds of the Swedish metal domain meet in graceful matrimony to create another memorable piece of death metal. Joined by Taylor Nordberg (guitars/keys/drums) and Jeramie Kling (bass) both of which are involved in several acts, help to formulate the shape and story of this death metal tale. And while it may be nothing revolutionary, credit has to be bestowed upon these individuals for the fine job done on the album.

Spanning about 35 minutes, The Lighthouse assaults the ears with sweet melodic passages and rhythms that'd almost bring you to tears before the end of the journey. Eerie pieces are also added to the fabric of The Lighthouse along with almost middle eastern sounds to broaden the sonic aspect of the material. And with the signature Swedish death metal writing style being handled by the wealth of experience of Rogga, there could be no flaw, shortcoming, or misstep in the shaping of the music.

Following the epic 80s styled synthwave introduction of 'And From the Fog', no time is wasted as things are off to a fiery start. Title track 'The Lighthouse' paints the soundscape with a sensational opening that features fast and tight drumming to go along with the blackened melodic sweep of the guitars. Already hooking in the listener to come along for the full voyage. Making sure that whilst the music plays, you're encompassed and engaged via the flexible structure of the music. Moving from melancholic melodic death metal to eerie compositions on the keyboards to even adventurous black metal sections, these facets are arranged in such a way that the motion is never hindered as they segue into each other smoothly.

While I would say the songwriting on The Shadow At The World's End was top-notch, The Lighthouse eclipses it. With 'Fornever to Awaken', 'Rotting Pathways', and 'They Silently Await' magnifying the effectiveness and providing a bridge of sorts for you to transition back and forth thus emphasizing the connectivity of the music structure-wise. And with the album having such a short runtime paired with the addictive melodies of aforementioned 'The Lighthouse', 'Where Slowly Light Fades' and 'Rotting Pathways', you feel as though you've raced through the music without having covered the smaller fragments of detail on the record.

Proving to be a very productive musician and still skilled one, Rogga's vocals appear to age nicely as his growl still has a mark of refinement that'd complement his riffing and the collective efforts of Taylor and Jeramie. You could not have asked for more from someone this active within death metal. Managing to follow-up and even outdoor prior work not so long ago released with an installment like The Lighthouse, it'd be a crime for the album to not get the recognition it deserves. One of the finer bastions of Swedish death metal, Eye of Purgatory with The Lighthouse reiterates what a true rendition to the glory days of the genre should emit and reflect.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Tomek on January 18, 2016.

I remember getting Ditheist first album many years ago. It was at the metal concert, I was walking out and I was really surprised that someone standing at the door was just giving away free cd’s to random people. It was Konrad (thanks much for keeping in touch dude! \m/) and he is also the one responsible for getting me their newest creation called Eternity Of Nothingness. I had to dig out their first album from the box to listen to it again since I haven’t heard it in such a long time, and of course to give myself some frame of reference before writing some words about the new one.

Their EP Seduction Of Demons came out in 2008 and it was what you can expect from a young band back then. It was furious, passionate, sounded more like a demo and it was way too short for something that good. I have no information about what was happening with Ditheist since then but I have a full length in my hands so they have not been sitting on their butts doing next to nothing all this time. 8 songs in 25 minutes may seem like not that much to some, but with this album it feels just right.

Ditheist are not trying to sell something they don’t believe in. Death metal that they serve here is very primordial and aggressive but has all the elements to stay catchy at the same time. Achieved by vocal line, guitar riff or crushing breakdown they bash us with all the good stuff that death metal has to offer, and are doing it sounding awesomely old school. There are dense drumming passages with some blasting going on, there’s thrashing in the midst of death song, there’s vocals staying on guttural side but still understandable with addition of some shrieks and screams and there’s bass guitar rumbling viciously up front, there’s even some short distorted soloing. Old school death metal in its pure form just like it was done in the beginning. Only thing to bitch about a little bit would be the length of the album and some minor production problems but that’s about it.

Eternity Of Nothingness will not top charts or break records but the sincerity and passion it possesses is very real and all in all I don’t think those guys even think about such things. They play and record what’s in their hearts and play it to people that will appreciate the effort they put into getting the record out. There are things to work on and stuff to be done better in the future of course but I would like everybody to check out Ditheist albums nonetheless because – if you think about it - most of the bands we adore today or albums we go back to begun pretty much that way.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review by Felix on June 27, 2024.

Artistic freedom is a fine thing, as is personal development. But the same applies to integrity and reliability. The mastermind behind Korpituli has entered this field of tension. This wasn't a good idea. “Pohjola” is not only the third full-length of the band; it also presents the third musical approach. Previously, the project stumbled with some Burzum vibes into the scene and afterwards the name Emperor was at the top of the agenda. Now the new direction of Korpituli features a lot of folkloric elements and this approach is simply annoying. Multi-voiced Viking vocals and sing-along lines meet mediocre harmonies while the one man army falls victim to its own fickleness. Speedy sections only occur sporadically and black metal is obviously no longer in the portfolio of the one man project. In this respect, you shouldn't be fooled by the cover, which incidentally looks pretty stupid. Or is it particularly heroic to slay an unarmed opponent with an axe?

The new approach of Korpituli asks for a lot of keyboards, narrative vocals and a crude form of melodies that intend to sound very Scandinavian and archaic. At the end, we are attacked by songs like “Pohjan akka”, a song with a few acceptable sections and almost unbearable “melodic” parts as well. The fact that Mister Korpituli tries to sing in a more usual way becomes an own goal, because he is no natural born vocalist. He intends to give the vocals a heroic note, but everything sounds almost amateurish and not authentic. His vocals, the permanent presence of the keyboards and the general milder approach are the biggest problems I have with “Pohjola”. As I said at the beginning of the review, everybody has the right to do what they want, but I have the right not to follow.

Probably the intention behind “Pohjola” was to create an album with a full, masculine sound. But the prominent position of the keyboards and the voluminous yet shitty Pagan vocals kill the album. One can speak of a good sound with respect to the equally harmless musical content, because it does not hurt anybody, it can call itself professional and the single components are more or less well balanced. But who cares in view of this musical disaster which gets more and more evident the longer the album lasts. “Saunavihdat”, for example, delivers nothing but uninspired harmonies that drag on and on before an alibi speed part brings the song to an end (much too late). The dwarfish staccato of the chorus line at the beginning of “Yksi kaksi kolme neljä” makes absolutely no sense. A melody like a hiccup. It takes away any desire to listen to the song to the end. I did it anyway. It wasn't worth it. Okay, maybe this is a love it or hate it album, but honestly speaking I don’t think that these 45 minutes have the power to polarize. “Pohjola” is simply a waste of time for black metal fans. The Pagan metal community can lend an ear, but even they should not have high expectations. And who knows, the fourth album of Korpituli will probably feature techno thrash. Or melo death. Or horror punk...

Rating: 1.4 out of 10