Finnish artists Olli Hänninen (Ronskibiitti, Hammaspeikko) and Sami Hynninen (Opium Warlords, Reverend Bizarre) have teamed up for the eccentric approach to Buddhist Hell with Chambers. Eighteen varied tracks bring together hip hop, industrial, experimental, and synth pop in a chaotic and interesting fashion. Always moving forward with a bleak outlook, Chambers will certainly get the listener thinking about hell, punishment, and varied musical approaches to tell similar tales.

 

On the surface, mixing a hip hop producer with a doom metal bassist/vocalist seems quite odd, but these aren't ordinary artists. Always expanding and exploring, their alternative approaches to their respective genres helps to fuse other influences and forge new ground. Chambers explores the different aspects of Buddhist Hell, and does this by varied musical approaches. While one track could be a noisy hip hop vision, then next could be heavy industrial, and those followed by a weird synth pop track. This is a really cool and intriguing take on not only Hell/punishment, but in record construction. Despite the varied styles, the album stays pretty consistent on the grim front and adds a nice darkness to tracks that may normally be a tad lighter. With that, the album works best when it is focused on the heavier elements and the vocals are more on the rougher, spoken side. There are a few spots on the album where the out of tune singing seems a bit self-indulgent and out of place, and takes away from the excellent backing track. However, the dark beats and strong industrial vibes and energy keep the album from drifting too far off course.

 

Comprised of varied styles of music, vocals, tones, and tempos, Chambers puts forth an interesting vision of the different chambers of Buddhist Hell and does so with aplomb. While the many different stylistic approaches offer much more for the listener, it also taxes the artists and their skills. Thankfully, Olli Hänninen and Sami Hynninen do quite well with this, so even if there are a few missteps or awkward moments on display, the rest of the material makes up for it and Chambers is still an enjoyable listen.