Album Review: Mutant Blast - Soulsteeler
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
With their own self-description set as “metal thrashing death n` roll”, I was very intrigued to hear what the debut album from Finnish band Mutant Blast would sound like. As a group, they strive to create a harsh and distinctive sound with influences ranging form classic metal to 90’s more extreme crunching.
The quartet formed in August 2020 but have been in various bands within the Finnish metal scene and from the very beginning of the album, I was sitting here with a grin on my face as it has that distinctive 80s/90s thrash feel yet somehow keeps the sound fresh and forward thinking.
There are 8 original songs and one cover, Iron Maiden’s “Prowler” and I can sense that they are going to be a hit with metal fans. It feels that every song has a cracking solo, with Tomi Malinen, also the vocalist, and Toni Huhtiniemi, doing a superb job, especially on “Mind Control” as it’s one hell of a riff like a tornado, it comes, destroys, then disappears gain. They gave us a taster with single “Acid Rain” which showcased great melodic riffs with references to movies and current world events.
It has a strong opening song called “Satan’s Pawn” with the drums from Eero-Sakari Kuikka, just steadily building up the pace and setting the scene very well, before the metal kicks in and ramps it up a few notches. It has the tempo and feel just right and will get feet moving and heads banging. Yet, as strong as the opening song is, they manage to get better, with the next two “Alone in the Wasteland” and my favourite “Into the Night”, both being memorable songs and bassist Eero Nykanen, getting in on the act with some nifty basslines.
It almost feels that they haven’t wasted any time spent in the studio, as the music composition is spot on, and each song keeps delivering time and time again. The riffs just keep coming thick and fast, and won’t disappoint fans of the band, and in turn, they’ll pick up more fans along the way. The only song that didn’t seem to fit was “Final Day”, it just lumbers along, like it’s carrying a ball and chain behind it, with spooky keyboards, which I usually enjoy, but in the middle of the album it didn’t work for me, but others may of course appreciate it.
It's followed by the aforementioned “Acid Rain” and the stunning “Mind Control” which are songs to get you all excited and moving around, before their last original song “For the Sake of Humanity”. It’s a shade under 8 minutes long, has great riffs throughout and rumbles along like thunder and lightning, with plenty of twists and turns and some weirdness around the 3-minute mark. They end with their version of “Prowler” which wraps up a quite excellent debut album.
