Unearthing The Metal Underground: Finland’s White Death

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Unearthing The Metal Underground: Finland’s White Death

The Scandinavian countries most commonly associated with black metal are Sweden and, of course, Norway. But Finland has been a vibrant wellspring of quality black metal since the early years. Just consider Beherit, for instance. In more recent years, White Death has been rumbling forth for a decade with an impressive and vile take on black metal that’s both unique in identity and also recognizably Finnish.

Werewolf Records is set to release the quintets second album, “Iconoclast,” on December 29, on CD, vinyl and cassette. The unit hasn’t exactly been prolific over the course of a decade, having just released a couple of demos, an EP and a split outside of its self-titled debut. And that’s okay when it’s a case of quality given priority over quantity. Pretty much everything they’ve released is interesting. And the melodic, textured black metal barrage continues to drive onward through a prism of static noise that’s collectively mesmerizing and almost hypnotic at points. “Iconoclast” is well worth the time of any self-respecting black metal fan. Do not sleep on White Death.