Kohtuus (meaning temperance, moderation) is a Finnish crust punk-band, and this is their first release. Their music is rather fast with simple and quite HC'82-style riffing, shouted male&female vocals and bassy, gruff sounds. The songs are about a minute long each.
Side A starts with a short and slow "jamming" intro that has such a low volume level that it doesn't draw much attention to itself. It's a shame, as it sounds really good. The first real track is without doubt one of the best on this record as it has catchy riffing, good amount of aggression, and a chorus that's sure to stick to your head the first time you hear it. The next song has more straighforward and simple riffs and is overall much less interesting until it's slower end part. It's overall quite sludgy when compared to the other tracks, but it fits in well. The A-side's last song is again faster, still remaining on the straighforward path except for the fitting and good slower chorus. There's also a nice guitar solo-like in the track's end.
Side B begins with slow bass riffing and guitar noise, but it soon explodes into a very fast song with a simple but catchy chorus. The next track continues pretty much in the same vein, but the vocal work is not as good. The third song is really good, it has some good spices by drums and guitars in it's end and the vocals are improved when comparing to the previous track. The last track has a really fast beginning, but it slows down in it's end, which works well when thinking of the record's whole.
The sounds are rather lo-fi on purpose, but the gritty sounds fit the songs well and deliver the aggression. Only the drums could have better sounds, as now they sound quite damp and powerless which eats some aggression away. The vocals could also be more audible, as now they fade at times. The lyrics are about some negative happenings and people in the band's personal life, as well as about more general negative things such as the government's actions... Or at least I got such an image, I can't be sure as the cassette holds no lyrics. It's a shame. Visually the release is bare, but it still holds all the necessary info.
The release presents the band and it's style well, and is overall a good listen. It doesn't yet present anything too spectacular, but it seems that the band knows what it's doing so my guess is that we can expect some great stuff from them in the future. Especially the slower parts deserve a mention, as they're imbued to the songs so well. A bit tighter execution would be in order in the future, and maybe the band could adjust the sounds a bit. All in all, this is a good debut with a good dose of attitude.