Release Date November 21st, 2025
Format CD/Digital
Genre Melancholic Metal
Country Finland
Scythe For Sore Eyes comes straight from the frozen streets of Helsinki, Finland, smashing guitars together since 2013. These guys dropped two earlier full-length attacks, "Dawn Of A Darker Horizon" in 2015 and "Nothing" four years later. Now they deliver their third studio assault, "Face Puzzle", put together over at Inka Studio under Juho Räihä's watch. The five-piece crew features Satu Nummenpää handling the melodic vocals, Bjarke Aalto on bass, Timo Rajala and Jarno Nummenpää tearing up the guitars, while Jarno brings the harsh growls and Jani Matilainen punishes the drum kit.
For "Face Puzzle", the Finnish quintet brings a genuinely heavy approach to their melancholic metal style. The guitars cut through the mix with serious aggression, locking in with the bass and drums to build a tough foundation. You get a constant vocal trade-off throughout the tracks. Satu delivers soaring melodic singing, crossing paths with Jarno’s deep guttural roars. It gives the music a severe contrast, dropping heavy riffs right next to depressive, sorrowful melodies. The production job keeps the instruments loud and right in your face.
They also throw a couple of cover tracks into the tracklist. First up is "Existence In Hatred", originally crushed by the Finnish thrash squad Sorrowed. This makes total sense since Jarno used to play in that band, bringing his old riffs into a new era. Then they tackle the absolute classic "Breaking The Law" by Judas Priest. Covering Priest is always a risky move in the metal world. Scythe For Sore Eyes manages to put their own depressed, down-tuned spin on it. It works okay and adds a strange, unexpected flavor to the heavy Finnish melancholy going on everywhere else on the album.
Overall, "Face Puzzle" delivers a decent dose of heavy Nordic gloom. The guitar work strikes the right chords, and the vocal duality provides an adequate amount of sorrow. A few sections drag a tiny bit, taking away from the overall impact. Even so, the band stays true to their dark roots and keeps the metal spirit alive. Fans of heavy, depressive tunes will easily blast this out of their speakers. It gives the listener what is promised.
Score: 7.0
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