Ukon Wacka

Personnel: Jonne Järvelä (vocals, guitar, mandolin, percussion); Tero Hyvaluoma (fiddle); Juho (accordion); Asku Hanttu (timbales, background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Asku Hanttu.
Recording information: Petrax Studio, Hollola, Finland; Villvox, Lahti, Finland.
Photographer: Harri Hinkka.
Ukon Wacka, the seventh studio album from Finnish folk-metal outfit Korpiklaani, is named after a feast for the Finnish god of thunder. It's hardly a subtle clue as to what the album sounds like, but Korpiklaani are about as subtle as a mace to the cranium, and what they may lack in nuance they certainly make up for in might. Bold, melodic, punishing, and occasionally silly, Ukon Wacka doesn't deviate at all from the band's signature blend of traditional Finnish folk music and classic power metal until the end, when it tosses in a surprisingly effective rendition of the Motörhead classic "Iron Fist," which is made all the more feral by the electro-pagan instrumentation and the banshee wail of vocalist Jonne Järvelä. ~ James Christopher Monger