Track By Tracks: Kalmo - Gehinnom (2021)

The album's theme phrase is this is where the end begins. The atmosphere in the songs is dark and daunting. The song lyrics are in Finnish and tell stories about the end from different points of view. Whereas Demoni was very simple and perhaps even monotonic when it came to the songs, Gehinnom songs have more musical elements in them. There are 6 tracks on the album.

1. Tuho (Destruction):

The opening track sets the ominous theme of the album. The signs of the dawning doom have been revealed. Anointed cherub, screaming lion, the master of filth is coming. The pure will be tarnished by sin. Notions of afterlife and visions of immortality are in vain. The end is so pure and cruel, so beautiful and raw – and when it’s over, nothing remains. The character of the song, the Master of filth, bringing the end of it all can be considered to be the character in the album’s cover art.

2. Tuli (Fire):

A scorching red inferno rises from the eternal lakes of fire. The song opens with a mesmerising serenade to the flames, pledging the soul to the inferno. The ultimate sacrifice is needed for eternal life. Only death in flames can promise you immortality. The voices echo the rising flames and affirm an eternal commitment to the fire. True believers will be stigmatized, branded with the sign.

3.TSEPVSL – The last soul of them all trapped in human flesh, realizing time is depleting. Despair is complete, as complete as the inescapable end itself. The distorted image reflecting from the darkness at the last moment invites the last of the lasts to step into the void. This is not an ending, but the end.

4. Mitään ei jää (Nothing remains):

This song is the oldest song on the album. People are their own worst enemies, and the final betrayal leaves mankind with no hope for the future. You live by the doom, you die by the doom. A brother’s end is intertwined with another’s doom. The future lost due to your past, taken with the last of your kind. If we humans continue to operate and behave like we do, it is not only mass extinction that will wipe out humankind, but also what a man does to another.

5. Marjaana:

Marjaana is a Finnish version of an old traditional song, based on the 17th century ballad Sweet William’s Ghost, and now twisted, Kalmo-style. While the original structure of the music has been somewhat preserved, the lyrics and tone of the song have been kalmonised. Wishes are granted and promises kept – at a high price. Marjaana finds her doom in the promise given long ago. Death will collect the debt. The lyrics video for this song has an animated scene for each verse of the story. The style of animation is simplistic black-and-white and brings visuals to the gloomy story.

6. Kuolleen linnun laulu (Song of the dead bird):

The Gehinnom chapter is closed by the song of the dead bird. It is a hymn-like song: the congregation coming together to sing about the beginning of the end, accompanied and eventually drowned out by the song of the dead bird. As all hope of redemption and salvation turns out to be false, the song of the dead bird is all that remains. The second music video from the album is for this song. The music video is combination of 3D graphics and animation with live video. In the video, a mysterious monk walks into a church and preaches the story of dead bird while transforming himself during the ceremony with a rite.