Review of the Album Known as Heart Roots by Finnish Thrash Metal Band Mokoma Released in 2010

Finnish thrash metal band Mokoma really put themselves onto the thrash metal scene in Finland with their aggressive high energy brand of thrash metal starting in the early 2000s. Their 2010 studio album Sydänjuuret or Heart Roots in English is their 7^th studio album released in 2010. This album reached the 1 spot on the Finnish musical charts so I wondered whether this album really is that good to be deserving of such a high spot on the music charts of that country. Listening to the album early on makes you say things like “Whoa” or wow! It is one of those albums that has rougher vocals in addition to the standard vocals you have heard from front man Marko Annala.

At the end of the 4^th song, the riffs chug along as I hear an ending similar to a song from Metallica in the 2000s. There is a sort of sludge style riffing that reminds us of Derrick Green era Sepultura but Mokoma takes that up a notch and makes it a tad more entertaining. This article is not meant to compare Sepultura to Mokoma but Mokoma's style of thrash keeps you feeling like it is a soothing, well-written form of thrash that works in pretty much all of their albums made in 2003 and after. But it must be said that there are times when translating what each song is about is tough. If the band's lyrics were in English the songs wouldn't have the same kind of feel to them. It is not too much different from their studio albums released in 2004 and after. There is more of an emphasis on the bass lines which we will get into in just a short while. But for now, just be aware of the sludge style riffing in this album and this is definitely better than Mental Care Foundation, another Finnish thrash metal band.

The first song Heart Roots starts out with that heavy sludge feel before the vocals get melodic. The roots of heavy metal go back as far as the 1960s but Finnish thrash has never been better! Wit the addition of bands such as Stam1na and Mokoma, Finnish thrash metal has been enhanced. Marko Annala still uses his regular vocals in this album so those have not been abandoned which is great because without them, this album would not be the same. Even though the start of this album is not as good as Bones and Cores in 2007, it is still off to a good start.

But as is the case, how a band starts an album does not always determine how the album as a whole turns out. There are bands that consistently produce one solid album after another and Mokoma is one example of an artist that might as well have the word consistency added to its name because consistency is the name of the game for these Finnish veterans. If you don't enjoy these guys by now, then you'll never enjoy their music. The Finnish language may be a barrier for some fans but this has not been a barrier for me. I might have been a Finnish person in a past life because a few of my favorite metal bands are Finnish.

One example of vocals that are brilliant is in the 8^th song called Don't Give It a Name. By the way the song starts, you would think that this is some lame, cheesy metal song but nothing could be further from the truth. It starts out simply and then turns into a masterpiece kind of acoustic filled ballad as Marko's voice soothes you through the song. It reminds me of a combination of Annihilator and Fates Warning definitely because of that twin guitar sound kind of feel. But then, some growls are added making this not a thrash metal song but a sort of power ballad which is fine because adding a ballad song if you are a metal band makes you more diverse if you can write something decent. But this 8^th song is a masterpiece!

Listening to this 7^th release by Mokoma, it isn’t good enough to land on the #1 spot on the musical charts though. “For Both Good and Bad” is a song that is lyrically about a person that doesn’t care an inch, especially for more boundaries. He desires more freedom and more love. “Eyewitness” which is song #9 sounds more like a modern Megadeth song but with more of a modern groovy thrash metal feel to it. I like this album less than when I first reviewed it in 2020 but it still delivers some pretty decent thrash metal. “Hello Hello July” is a song that is about a person that has left the one he loves but he is not afraid of thunderstorms or a freezing cold because he feels that they have to be experienced.

Final Rating as of 2022: 80 points out of 100