Havukruunu – Tavastland Review

After 5 long years, the Finnish outfit “Havukruunu” (meaning crown of pines) releases their 5th full-length record, and a record to stand tall within their discography, especially when considering the bold and aggressive album cover.

The singular word that goes well with the entirety of this record is “epic”, it truly feels like Tavastland is an epic and mesmerizing adventure of evil, darkness, but still optimism and fuel for victory. Looking back all these years, the band has created 3 fantastic albums that follow similar themes of this one, where key elements to creating tracks comes down to melodies and combination of vile and fast paced riffs that are inspired by first-wave black metal bands such as Bathory and Celtic Frost. Even the band themselves treat the music they’re making to be more Heavy metal than black metal, hence the genre tag Black ‘n’ Roll being used on some of their records and/or tracks.

I usually am not the person to compare albums, however this record does seem to be a bit more laidback, and less fast-paced as the previous “Uinuos syömein sota” released back in 2020, but despite it’s slower grooves, i feel that the record actually has better song structures surrounding 1 or 2 key riffs that are memorable and distinct. The chants and vocal echoes, of course, are one of the signatures of the band that made me fall in love with this project in the first place, their ability to create northern chants that glide across acoustic passages, namely on the second track “Yönsynty” are a key factor that makes them recognizable, which in this point in time is really important.

Humö‘s bass is also a big factor of this album, the pioneer has returned after almost a decade to complete this full-length despite leaving in 2016 after finishing the debut record “Havulinnaan“. Stefan, “Kostajainen” and “Henkka” remain the original creators behind this album, with Stefan being one of the main songwriters as well as creating melodies on the majority of tracks. I want to note that Stefan couldn’t create this masterpiece himself since drums play such a vital role on carrying these melodies away, and I couldn’t be more satisfied with the performance “Kostajainen” brought to the table. The solo sections, assuming they were written by “Henkka” leave such a uplifting feeling on the listener, and for me most notably on the track “Tavastland”, shortly and beautifully describing this dark and adventurous land. The sound of this band, with their distinctive production style, leaving some solos “raw” and letting the guitars drone out in particular tracks, makes a statement in the black metal community as a whole, bands like these are the ones you’re going to remember in the years to come.

In the end, “Tavastland” stands as yet another indication to Havukruunu’s mastery of their black metal craft. While perhaps less aggressive than its predecessor, it compensates with stronger compositions, deeper emotional weight, and a much more adventurous and epic feel. Truly a record I would try to listen to as a whole, all the time, “Tavastland” definitely feels like a story that I’m interested in. I’m very certain that long-time fans of this project will be as satisfied with this release as I am, truly a band to look out for in the future.

Havukruunu “Tavastland” released February 28th via Svart Records.

Track Listing:

1. Kuolematon Laulunhenki
2. Yönsynty
3. Havukruunu ja Talvenvarjo
4. Tavastland
5. Kuoleman Oma
6. Unissakävijä
7. Kun veri sekoittuu lumeen
8. De Miseriis Fennorum

Watch “Havukruunu ja Talvenvarjo” official music video here: