One of the strangest bands to emerge from Finland, ever, Oksennus play their death metal like the gods are said to play at being human. And on Sokea Idiootti, their second proper full length, but their seventh release overall, they've reached a level where KK, OK, and VP can now actively torment their listener, while simultaneously, and surreptitiously rewarding him-without his even realizing it. He only knows that he cannot stop listening. The bass guitar is like a gadfly not so much buzzing in your ear as reciting Kafka. Meanwhile, the vocals never abandon their monstrous depths, no matter where the instruments find themselves. So, too, the guitars and drums stay locked in like the cranial screws of halo traction. As strange and ayahuasca-visionary as Sokea Idiootti gets, it remains death metal. And that alone is remarkable.
