Where Left Is Right / The Old Site

Via a chain of random-blogging cross-references (culminating with MonkeyFilter), I came across some information about a Finnish choral organization, the Men's Choir Shouters (in Finnish, Mieskuoro Huutajat).

Primal male choir roars it out

There is something very military about the spectacle. Thirty big men march onto the stage. All are wearing old-fashioned black suits, white shirts and rubber ties. Not a single man relaxes his stern expression even the slightest as he takes his accustomed place in the choral line-up.

All very normal so far, but the listeners, even those who have heard it all, are certain to be startled as soon as the men open their mouths. That is because they do not sing; they shout. Loudly and aggressively, but also in a disciplined, rhythmic manner.
...
[Says Shouters leader Petri Sirviö,] "I generally look for pieces with a certain kind of content. A song should have something to which shouting gives a very special significance. A typical feature of national anthems, for example, is that the singer's emotional state and the contents of the lyrics often contradict each other. Likewise interesting are all kinds of surprises, such as the cruel features that children's songs contain or the quite amusing little details one hears in pompous battle songs."

The photo below comes from their Web site: