Loits - Vere Kutse Kohustab

 

 

 

LOITS - Vere Kutse Kohustab (LEDO TAKAS - CD 2004)

Second Loits album… yeah, bring it on! When speaking of “Vere Kutse Kohustab” I must first say how excellent the digibook version of this album, which I have here with me, is. One cannot but admire Loits’ care of all details, including really awesome and special photo session, which they did for this album and which portrays the band members dressed in Estonian soldiers’ uniforms. But all these photos has been done like taken during the actual war campaign, almost like from sort of documentary or movie, so they look really realistic, not like a band posing to the photography… and it shows not just the band members (soldiers) fighting, but also having more relaxed time, when smoking cigarettes, then taking the medals for bravery, even being looked after by a nurse. Awesome. Obviously Loits continues their specific historical, patriotic concept – dedicating their music to the “…Estonian freedom fighters, who sacrificed their years of youth for battling against the enemy both at the front line and in forests…”. “Vere Kutse Kohustab” goes into this concept even deeper than its predecessor “Ei Kahetse Midagi”; all the lyrics describe it deeply, even by using text from the Lennuräepoiste Klubi’s songbook or texts written by the veteran of Infantry Regiment 200. Some were also written by Tauno Rahnu – googling his name brought quite controversial figure, so I wonder if it’s the same person then.

But lyrics and concept aside, “Vere Kutse Kohustab” presents music, which has changed, let’s say progressed, quite a lot since the previous album. Here we can say that Loits has found their own, more unique style. And I can finally hear what the hell did they mean, when Loits decided to call their music “flak’n’roll”! Let me remind you that “Ei Kahetse Midagi” was an album deeply influenced by the Norwegian black metal; I compared it to some bands from Norway, which I think Loits was close to and definitely I can say that there were many similarities between them; both musical, but also with the atmosphere, which the music was creating. Meanwhile “Vere Kutse Kohustab” is just different. Sure, the basis of the whole music still lies deep in black metal, that’s obvious, but Loits managed to create something more individual and personal… the riffs are more specific, not so cold and grim kind of black metal riff, but hmm… I don’t know how should I describe them, but definitely they have more epic feeling, they’re more melodic and maybe often also are catchier, with the overall aura being kind of closer to the Eastern European bands, like Sear Bliss and Nokturnal Mortum, rather than to Scandinavian. You won’t hear any fast tempos here, the whole album is mid paced or slow, Loits puts a lot of attention to the feeling and mood of their music, and finally – along with this new type of riffs – they incorporate more keyboards, acoustics, clean vocals… and on top of everything there’s the final, untitled, song, which is played on accordion and sang in the way, which reminds me some old Polish songs from the time of Second World War. I don’t know whether it actually is an old soldier’s song or something Loits composed for the album, but it is a nice summation of the entire concept of “Vere Kutse Kohustab”.

When reviewing to “Vere Kutse Kohustab” I must be honest and say that personally I like “Ei Kahetse Midagi” more. This debut album might have been less original, speaking of the musical style, but I really have loved the songs from it, as well as that cold atmosphere of the music. For me really the debut LP is just as good as any classic Norwegian black metal record. But I must admit that “Vere Kutse Kohustab”, even if I like it less, also makes a huge impression. There are several truly amazing songs here, many, which catch the attention instantly and won’t let go, until the final second. I would probably need to mention almost the entire tracklist, but songs, which especially seem to be interesting and significant, are “Eesti Auks”, “Kodu”, “Aeg Argata”, “Furor Aesticus”, “Vanade Leegionäride Laul” or “Tuleristsed”. Each is slightly different and has something unique to offer. There’s also “Suomepoiss” with some cool riffs and accordion used in one motif… A lot is happening on the entire album (for instance listen to “Võitluslipp”) and the whole is just great, impressive and fully attractive and I must say I really enjoyed it… Yeah, I know that I just wrote that the debut CD was even better, but “Vere Kutse Kohustab” is also damn good. Just look how many songs I mentioned, when listing my favourites… It’s half of the album and trust me, there are more songs, which I would want to put here, but that would be pointless! I think I already wrote enough… In that case I can only recommend Loits once more; get it, whether on CD, digibook, vinyl… it is a special record and a must to have, in my opinion!

Standout tracks: “Eesti Auks”, “Aeg Argata”, “Furor Aesticus”, “Vanade Leegionäride Laul”, “Tuleristsed”, “Kodu”

Final rate: 87/100