The Hirvi – Old School Killspree

Label: Inverse Records    Release date:  June 1, 2018

The Hirvi has been around in those days when Old School Thrash was just being born … Rewind back 30 years. In the late 1980s the Helsinki thrash metal scene was booming. All over the Finland capital young metal musicians, inspired by the antics of pre-Black album Metallica and pre-Countdown to Extinction Megadeth, were organizing thrash shows and releasing demos. The teens enjoyed their music on public youth houses and squats, intoxicated by the authentic thrash sound as well as cheap liquor. Among the premium bands of the era was  The Hirvi,  roughly translated as  ”The Moose”.  Led by their 19-year old front man  Juha Virtanen, The Hirvi excited the audiences and gained notoriety as one of the hardest partying bands in the scene – and then they disappeared as fast as they rose to fame.

At the anniversary 30 years later Juha Virtanen (git&voc) just feels the urge once again, gathers the original The Hirvi members bass player Jusa and drummer Otto plus guitarist Joni in order to perform and record the old songs and some new ones. And after this one show there came some more, and more…

And I could witness at some of those live shows that The Hirvi are still kicking ass after 30 years. The CD  Old School Killspree captures the fun they put on stage – skilful and brutal, just like the opener Dying Time. They start with the tough and technical stuff, later the Mooses express their weird sense of humour, exploiting and exploring many different styles and genres of Metal, and others. Sudden change in mood and tempo at Satan is Back, a Rautalanka-Boogie Intro at The Hirvi, complex to totally-weird parts in DanceDanceDance or Don’t Fuck With The Runners … There’s dedication to tough pure Thrash towards the end (Killer Instinct) until dark sarkasm takes over once again at the final Jumala on hyvä (God is good) …

Or let me try to explain it like this: When you like early or contemporary Sodom, Annihilator, Holy Moses or Voivod, you will also enjoy The Hirvi who still sound fresh and exciting after 30 years. I can recommend not just the CD but also to check them out live…

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