SOTATILA-reviews:

"Vituiks meni" 7"EP:



www.lowcut.dk:
"8 tracks of raging distorted old-school hardcore come Finland/Austria way. I'm immediately whiffed back to '83-'84 to a dirty finish squat with Mellakka, Kaoss and Riistetyt pumping tunes straight into my blood-veins. One solid slap of wax that makes me want to fuck up my room and my life. (Martin/www.lowcut.dk)"

Toinen Vaihtoehto #224:
"Suomi-hoocee ja kasikakkonen voivat tällä hetkellä hämmästyttävän hyvin. Sotatilan tapauksessa perinteisen mökän rakentamiseen on otettu mukaan muutama Suomen ulkopuolella elämänsä viettänyt henkilö. Tuloksena on erittäin hienoa ja suomalaisen kuuloista kasikakkosta ihan sieltä parhaasta päästä. Väittäisin tätä levyä monipuoliseksi ja silti tinkimättömäksi kasikakkoseksi. Ei yhtään heikkoa biisiä, kunnon kaahausta ja paljon viittauksia vanhoihin kasikakkosbändeihin. Tätä on oikeastaan ihan turha analysoida, antaa musiikin viedä mukanaan. Nautittavaa. Erittäin hieno levy. Ei menny vituiks tämä EP. (.m.)"

"Eepee" 7"EP:



Maximumrock'n'roll #303:

"This is the first non-comp-track release by this band that boasts members from both Austria and Finland. SOTATILA had some of the standouts on the Propaganda Is Hippies compilation LP, and the songs on this EP are every bit as intense. The music has a distinct mid-'80s Finnish hardcore sound that makes its cues from the classics, mostly notably MELLAKKA. Sung in the Finnish tongue, the urgent vocals push this over the top with the right amount of distortion and tactfully placed echo. This one pummels. (SE)"

Suburban Voice: (http://subvox.blogspot.com)

"Scandinavian perfection—Sotatila are a Finnish band favoring blistering tempos, dead-on instrumentation and harsh vocals with the accent on the last syllable (lots of “ahrrrs”). Once again, I could spend all day analyzing the various nuances, micro-influences but it's hard to analyze anything when being hammered with Sotatila's tumult. Honoring the tradition but it's also a modern sound, particularly production-wise. In other words, no “distort” but it fucking blazes. Yep, there's an aura of familiarity here with no surprises... just everything falling perfectly into sync."

Equalizing Distort:

" “Eepee” is SOTATILA's debut release. They have a demo out and some comp tracks on the “Propaganda is Hippies” comp, but “Eepee” is really the band's first official release. And I imagine it is hard for a band that features members from Finland and Austria make it difficult for them to get together. But they haven't broken up yet and this 8-song 45 is testament to their existence. SOTATILA are like 9 SHOCKS in their worship for LIP CREAM, but the singing effects has echo effects that remind me of G.I.S.M. If you are a fan of Russian Roulette slap the needle down anywhere. You'll blow your brains out with raging rust belt inspired Japa-core via Scandinavia. The cultural dialogue doesn't get better than this. (Kamaset Levyt – Vallikatu 28 A 2 / 33240 Tampere / Finland / www.punkinfinland.net/kamanen) - SP"

Profane Existence:

"Wow, a new SOTATILA 7”. This is just an awesome band. Having released great songs since their demo in 2005, this 7” is their best material to date…Raging Finnish inspired hardcore the way it was meant to be. Great lyrics, great production. Be sure to pick this one up. Members from Finland and Austria.(Paul)"

No Way Recs:

Fucking ripping hardcore from Finland. Has everything you like about MELAKKA, BASTARDS, KAAOS and bands like that from the 80's, but steps it up a notch with an in your face, powerful recording that really gets the point across. This is one of the best records from Finland in a while, watch out for these fuckers.....

Maximumrock'n'roll / "Best records of 2007":

("Propaganda Is Hippies" was ranked as one of the best records of the year by 4 writers of Maximumrock'n'roll:)

"Finland is no stranger to producing great punk, however in 2007 the scene there had an exceptionally quality year. Propaganda Is Hippies is one of the many Finnish must-haves from '07. Rarely do I hear a compilation without cringing during at least one of the songs, but this collection has beaten the odds. (Cissie Scurlock)"

"This one set a new high-water-mark for comp LPs in the modern age. Not a single bad song. Much like the Propaganda Records comps of bygone days, this collection also highlights the apex of modern Finnish hardcore (Justin Briggs)"

"All the powerful bands Finland has produced on one record-unsurpassable! (Martin Sorrondeguy)"

"34 tracks of chaotic 1982-era Finnish hardcore revival from KIELTOLAKI, VIIMEINEN KOLONNA, VÄÄRINKÄSITYS, TOTUUS, SOTATILA, OMAISUUSVAHINKO and YHTEISKUNNAN YSTÄVÄT, but pulled off with vigor and intensity on par with the originals. Cool disc. (Ken Sanderson)"

Maximumrock'n'roll (nov 2007):

"It doesn't get better than this, folks - well, not this month. Finland is very finely represented here. This compilation LP highlights some great bands of recent years - the amazing KIELTOLAKI, VIIMEINEN KOLONNA, VAARINKASITYS, TOTUUS, SOTATILA, OMAISUUSVAHINKO and YHTEISKUNNAN YSTAVAT. There is not a bad song on this record. The art, layout and music will immediately remind some folks of the old propaganda compilations from the '80s. Finland has a history of producing some insane harsh sounds, and the Finns have always ingested punk rock and puked it back out at us ten times crazier than we could never imagine. Search this out. Now!!! (MS)"

Equalizing X-Distort vol.7:

"This is a compilation of contemporary Finnish hardcore bands that play as fierce as the original scene did. It kind of looks like "Russia Bombs Finland"which was put out by Propaganda Records which is where part of the name comes from for the comp. I think the other part is a play on G.I.S.M.'s "Punks is Hippies" reference. Anyway it looks the part. It also plays the part. The latest crop of Finnish hardcore bands would give the early scene a run for their money. The comp starts out with three songs by this awesome new band from Turku called KIELTOLAKI. Now KIELTOLAKI have just released two eps in the last few months ahey are fuckin' incredible. The opening three tracks are on par. The songs are blistering fast and heavy setting the bar high for the rest of the bands. Well VIIMEINEN KOLONNA follow this up with a MOB 47 meets RATTUS kind of sound. Just insanely good. VAARINKASITYS are no slouches. This material is from a 5 song self-released CD-R demo titled "Musta Maa" and it is hard to believe that they are three piece. The band has same blistering '82 style of Finnish hardcore. Hyperspeed and angry and fuck. TOTUUS also makes an appearance with 9 new songs. It is quite amazing to get a band appeared on the original comps to be on a tribute some 25 years later. they haven't skipped a beat. Then there is this project band called SOTATILA from Austria and Tampere. The band dishes out two new tracks and a MELLAKKA cover. OMAISUUSVAHINKO are a new band I know nothing about. They floored me. They have just released some material on a four way split comp called "Perhosten Keeraaja #1" that is equally amazing. The band has been likened to REAGAN YOUTH and LAMA and they are not far off. YHTEISKUNNAN YTSTAVAT? are a band from the Lapland region. They kick the speed up another notch. Think AGNOSTIC FRONT meets DROPDEAD. Flawless. The whole comp. In the tradition of the "Russia Bombs Finland" and "Hardcore 83" comp. "Propaganda is hippies" could be seen as the third instalment to some incredible Finnish hardcore comps. Or it could be a reflection of how good the scene is currently in Suomi. Either way you want to make this a permanent addition to your collection going forward. -SP"

Suburban Voice:

"All those narrow bands and the tribute of sorts to the Propaganda records label. 34 unreleased sonx (as the sleeve notes put it) by seven of the newer crop of Finnish hardcore bands. Any piece of vinyl that starts off with the raging Kieltolaki is off to a great start, indeed. Viimeienen Kolonna keep the speed attack going but there are a few UK anarcho elements, as well. Väarinkäsitys bring it back to the old-school Finnish buzzbomb sound. Flip it over and Totuus rip it up furiously although the speed sometimes gets the best of them. Sotatila, with people from Finland and Austria, only have three songs, one of ‘em a Mellakka cover (“Ei/Oikeus Valita”—a well-played version) and make the most of it. Omaisuusvahinko are a tad monorhythmic but still blistering. Probably the weakest of the bunch, though. Finally, Yhteiskunnan Ystävät? bring it home with a relentless assault. The bottom line is it doesn't matter where you drop the needle on this record. The volume explodes from the grooves and pure rage emanates. "

Toinen Vaihtoehto #207:

"Heti alkuun täytyy todeta, että onpa hätkähdyttävän hyvä kokoelma. Kansi ja koko ulkoasu on suoraan verrannollinen vanhaan Propagandan kokoelmaan Russia Bombs Finland ja ilmeisesti mainittuun lafkaan viittaa levyn nimikin. Mukana on iso liuta kova ja suurin osa vielä suhteellisen uusia bändejä: Kieltolaki, Omaisuusvahinko, Totuus, Väärinkäsitys, Viimeinen Kolonna, Sotatila ja Yhteiskunnan Ystävät? Taitaa olla sillä tavalla, että lähes jokaiselta bändiltä on osunut tähän levyyn sellaisia biisejä, jotka kuuluu sen bändin osalta mun suosikkeihin. Se on tietysti loistavaa! Otetaan esimerkiksi Viimeinen Kolonna, jestas, erittäin vakuuttavaa meininkiä. Sanoisin jopa, että saattaa olla parempaa kun koskaan aikaisemmin. Väärinkäsitys ja Omaisuusvahinkokin kuulostavat paremmalta kuin ikinä ja… no vittu kaikki! Hämmentävää on sekin, että tällä levyllä ei oikeastaan ole parhaita ja huonompia bändejä. Mitään muuta tästä on oikeastaan turha sanoa. Kuuluu jokaisen kodin perushankintoihin. Olenpas minä nyt innoissani, mutta kyllä se faktaa silti on. Usein kokoelmat ovat aika epätasaisia, mutta tämä on kyllä onnistunut ja tasalaatuinen paketti. Hardcorea tulee tuutin täydeltä, ei paljon vedetä edes henkeä välillä. Vittu miten siistiä. Positiivista on myös se, että kaikki biisit taitaa olla muualla julkaisemattomia. Levyä on tehty kolme (tai oikeastaan neljä, mutta yksi ei taida olla myynnissä…) eri versiota. Ekat 250 punaisella vinyylillä ja kannella, seuraavat 250 vihreällä ja 500 mustalla. Kaikki levyt on numeroitu. CD-versiota ei ole numeroitu, sen sijaan numeroinnin kohdalla lukee: CD tukee sotia. Heh heh. Se oli mielennkiintoista aikaa, kun väiteltiin siitä, että onko CD paha vai hyvä. Tämä levy on kuitenkin ehdottomasti hyvä. Suomalainen hardcore on äärimmäisen harvoin ollut paremmassa tilassa kuin se on nykyään, tämä levy olkoon siitä todistuksena. Parempaa 82-kokoelmaa ei ole tehty sitten vuoden 1982, eikä niitä silloinkaan ollut montaa. (m)"

Kids And Heroes Magazine: link

"Tudle kompilacku musim mít, to mi bylo jasný už od samý zacátku, kdy jsem se docetl, že vyjde. A to nejsem na finskou scénu žádnej vyhlášenej odborník, z playlistu zúcastnenejch kapel jsem znal jenom dve a zbytek bud podle názvu nebo vubec. Ale práve to je kolikrát ten nejlepší duvod si to sehnat. Jak už jsem teda naznacil, jedná se o kompilaci finskejch HC kapel (label to dokonce reklamuje jako nejlepší finský 82´s hardcore kapely, jaký jsou dneska ke slyšení). Následuje hned druhý nejvetší lákadlo a to to, že všech 34 fláku je bud z vyprodanejch a nesehnatelnejch demácu nebo dosud nevydanejch vubec. Dílko vyšlo jak na vinylu (tríbarevná a rucne císlovaná edice), tak na CD jako digipack. V cb bookletu najdeš texty všech kapel (krome Totuus), jejich sestavy a samozrejme kontakty. Ale ted už k samotnejm kapelám, který jsou na tom to nejduležitejší:
Hned první Kieltolaki z Turku naznacujou, kam se tohle všechno bude ubírat. Smršt v podobe trech songu z vyprodanýho cd-r demáce vnese sveží vítr do tvejch špinavejch uší. Vzduch trochu ztežkne pri následujících Viimeinen Kolonna , který ve svejch 6 válech (nahranejch ve starý sestave) pripomínaj ostrovní bratry Exploited a Varukers, a to hlavne zpevem. Následuje pro me nejpríjemnejší prekvapení týdle veci - Väärinkäsitys , tadle kapele me fakt dostala. Pricházej s 5 novejma songama (jo ješte jsem opomnel zmínit, že všechny vály na kompilaci jsou studiovky, žádnej bootleg), který se snad údajne maj objevit i na cd-r "Musta maa", ale todle je bomba. Totálne sypající špinavej hardcore, temhle klukum to šlape jako prase, taková ta kapela která te dostane do varu i doma v obýváku, natož nekde na koncerte, to musí bejt jízda! Hlavne poslední zásek "Julma kuolema" - rajot! Chybet pochopitelne nemužou Totuus z Oulu / Tampere. Zde s 9 songama, který budou dost možná jejich poslední nahrávkou. Fastfofr, nejrychlejší šupec na týhle placce, bubeník blázen. Válu tady maj sice nejvíc, ale minutáž težko, protože vetšina se pohybuje mezi pul minutou a minutou - povetšinou proste totální rychlost. Nejvetší hit "Väkivaltaa". Finsko-rakouská Sotatila byla pro me pred koupí to nejvetší lákadlo, takže jí tady budu težko hanit. Mezinárodní HC punk z Vídne / Tampere prináší 2 vály nový + jeden cover od Mellakka. Singalong výkriky v refrénech (konecne!), umounenej vzteklej zpev a v sestave i clenové Ruidosa Inmundicia - urcite bubeník a snad i náká kytara možná. Predposlední kapelou v poradí jsou punx Omaisuusvahinko , který predkládaj 3 nový songy. Bubeník a basák se s tim taky neserou, rychlej hardcore šupec, ze kterýho je cejtit i vliv Japonska. Po Totuus druhá nejrychlejší kapela na kompilacce. Finiš obstarávaj Yhteiskunnan Ystävät , který si možná rada z vás pamatuje z jejich spolecnejch koncertu s Neuroottiset Pelimannit, který meli v CR pred necelými 2 lety. Jak si je tak pamatuju, už tenkrát to byla pecka a rekl bych, že od tý doby ješte zrychlili a pritvrdili. Co jsem tak zaslech, tak by se meli v blízké dobe do CR zase podívat, takže je nepropásni. 5 HC punk sypacek s rekl bych nejagresivnejším zvukem tady, prostrední vál zní jak cover od Agrotoxico.
Psát náký moudra nakonec nemá smysl, u týhle kompilace je už asi predem prakticky jasný, kdo si jí sežene a kdo ne. Pecka! (9/10)"

"EKA DEMO" reviews:



Profane Existence
"this is confusing. the lyrics are in finnish, but the info sheet indicates that the band comes from from austria? WTF? well, whatever, because this demo is better than many of the EP's of this style that have been released this year. and what really makes this demo great is that they sound a lot like the japansee-worship finnish band SELFISH. see why this is so confuseing? in the end though, this demo is incredible; great mid-tempo hardcorepunk that deserves a vinly pressing. oh yeah, and the entire demo is available on their website." (jordan)

Flex Your Head (www.www.flexyourhead.net)
"You'd think this was 1983 and you're listening to a slab of excellent Scandinavian hardcore that was so prevalent in those days. Sung in Finnish, Sotatila assaults you with an explosion of D-beat that has strong elements of early bands like Tampere SS, Kaaos, Riistetyt, Mob 47 and comparable to some "newer" acts like Rajoitus, Ääritila, or Decontrol. Along with its socially-charged lyrics, this demo CD comes with an incredibly well-done insert and all songs are provided with English translations. All this being said you would probably expect this band were from Finland. You'd be wrong. There seem to be more and more bands popping up all over the world that are doing Finnish hardcore with Finnish lyrics to boot. Sotatila are actually from Vienna, Austria and do Finnish hardcore justice. This CD fucking rips! Expect this to be blasted in any CD player I happen to have in front of me!" (-Andy Gronberg)

Slug&Lettuce: SOTATILA - EKA DEMO CD
"Austrian band who sing in Finnish and play a style that lands somewhere between current rip-offs of Japanese hardcore and fast, crust-friendly European punk. Scathing lyrics that address both international and personal issues. Guitar leads when appropriate, and a near perfect recording (and this is the "demo"), and a vocal snarl that approaches Ishiya caliber. Awesome. (www.sotatila.cjb.net)" (-Robert)

Plastic Bomb # 52:
"Boah, 100% früh 80er Finnland HC punk im Stil der alten Propaganda Releases. Und jetzt kommt's: Die Combo kommt gar nicht aus Finnland, sondern aus Österreich! Ich bin verwirrt. Egal, die Songs sind einfacht klasse und vom Sound her wirklich originalgetreu geraten, also schön krachig. Kommt im selbstgebastelten Pappschuber mit Textblatt." (Björn)

www.impregnate.wz.cz SOTATILA : „Eka demo“ CDR
"Grr, new and angry band from Vienna. But i am not very sure how many finnish guys is in. If just singer or all of them... ok. SOTATILA plays absolute great, fast, angry and pissed off raw punk hell with mad drums-tempo, chainsaw´s sound and angry vocals (in finish language, but booklet also includes english translations). It´s faster, melodic, hig-energic...well-done. 9 unmercyfull bullets for your fucking head, plus patch as a bonus. Fucking great stuff... gr!" (M)

"Grr, nová banda ze sousední Vídne! Nejsem si teda jistej tím jestli Fini jsou všichni nebo jenom jeden, ale to je stejne vcelku fuk. SOTATILA mastí kvalitní rychlej finopal v nejryzejší podobe. Zbesilé tempo škopku, syrovej a hutnej zvuk cirkulárky a urvanej vokál (zpev samozrejme finsky a v bookletu jsou ješte v anglictine). Hodne rychlý, hodne melodický, hodne energický, hodne namakaný! 9 nemilosrdnejch kulek do tvých uší a nášivka navrch. To celý za pár šupu, v kvalitním, pekne udelaným, obalu. Dobrý moc…chrochtám blahem." (M)

If you have some other reviews from us, would be nice to have... please send to: sotatila@gmx.net

Check out also Sotatila interview online. (340k/pdf)