Hailing far north in the Arctic Circle, home of the Sámi people comes another project from the mastermind Ruohtta titled Djuasa. This short and compact EP titled Skälmit is a perfect project to display along side Ruohtta‘s unique approach to Black Metal. With crude and cold guitar melodies and rustic drumming with harsh vocals that harken back to the golden days of black metal, Skälmit, spins a tale based off of a true story of Sámi teenagers that reflect a familiar story of 90s Norwegian black metal. This is a short yet impactful release that fits perfectly along side of the many other Ruohtta releases and is distinct enough as to where it doesn’t simply blend in with the rest of his releases.
The EP starts with militant drumming and raw, cold guitars with a jangly and boney tone that is rather iconic of Ruohtta. The track does break down, having these hypnotically swirling riffs and melodic passages that are complimented by harsh and wicked vocals sung in the native Sámi tongue. It sets the stage for the rest of the release, hypnotic and dark with an overall somber and melancholic atmosphere that’s mixed with pure rage and vitriol. While the first track is a slow creeper, the following tracks do pick up the pace a bit with some faster d-beat style blasts that have this rustic and folk feel that is ever present within this Sámi black metal release. The second track, Jáhkkojábmem, is an interesting one, with it having perfect qualities for a folk-mosh for rowdy Sámi teenagers to get their aggressions out. Unlike Ruohtta’s other releases, which are much more free-form and improvised, Djuasa is much more focused and compact, heavily relying on more melodic guitar passages and tighter and simplistic drumming which is very present on this release. The instruments are all tight and really compliment one another that only a one-man act such as this could accomplish. With the EP only being 4 tracks long as well, it feels much longer than its 18 minute running time feels. The tighter more compact riffs certainly add more food for thought and is rather dense, where multiple listens can be rather rewarding with noticing little details that may have been missed first time around.
During the Christianization of Europe, it took until the 17th century for this invasive religion and its missionaries to reach the Sámi people and took many years to slowly convert and erase their original culture. It was in the Gällivare municipality where the first Church of Christ was erected and it was seen as an invasion and colonization by the local peoples. While there were some who reluctantly stepped into those churches and joined their flock, there were those who resisted. During that era, sometime between the 1600s and 1700s, a group of Sámi teenagers who were angry at these foreign invaders that destroyed their culture and erasing their identity decided to band together to burn down the chapel, bringing honor to their ancestors who smile upon them. This story, ironically enough, is reflected in the infamous church burnings of the Norwegian black metal scene of the early 90s. As we all know by now, those angry teenagers saw those ancient stave churches built upon their holy-lands as both an insult and transgression upon their local culture. I find it perfectly fitting that this ancient story of the Sámi is told through black metal with a heavy emphasis on their local sound, something that I think the Norwegian scene lacked in the 90s, a call back to their traditional audial roots.
All in all this is an incredibly strong release under the Sámi black metal label fits perfectly along the prolific Ruohtta catalog. His iconic sound is every present with this Djuasa release and something I think every true black metal warrior should listen too if they care about the real traditions of ancient European culture. A high recommendation.