Review by Richard Henry for MPM
You sometimes wonder where 35 years has gone, there guys formed in 1990, with the first album “The Karelian Isthmus” coming out in 1992, I first heard them on the next album which came out in 1994, never a band to rest on their laurels and not afraid to try new things, lets dive into this and see what they have instore for us!
The Circle
Straight away there is the synth and the guitar with a delay on it, much like “The Bee” comes in, straight away the production is more organic, slightly less high end and less click on the drum sound, lovely double bass driving along until the verse comes in and the riff gets simpler leaving room for the vocals to shine, super melodic in the verse and then the pre chorus it doubles up, key change into the chorus part, it is so lush sounding, massive wall of sound but everything is so clear, I love that guitar delay figure that runs through everything, it keeps a continuity to it all in a way, I think the surprise so far is there are no harsh vocals, it’s all clean, the solo comes in and its super melodic, doing just what it needs to before we drop into the clean guitar delay part, now in the break the harsher vocals come in with a nice key change and then another change back into the chorus with the clean vocals coming again, super melodic opening track to kick off this album, I wasn’t expecting that, excellent opening track, it does remind me of “The Bee” only with clean vocals 95% of the way through it.
Bones
Slow and dragging with a far eastern feel in the riff and the keys with Tomi growling “Bones” over the groove, we hit the break before the verse riff and there is a sitar in there doubling it up, this is aggressive for sure, the verse is slow and full of groove and then boom, you get hit with that slab of an intro riff, second time round though it develops into a clean part that absolutely lifts the track in feel, before the tom verse groove comes in again, that part with the chant of “Bones” though, it is massive, Santeri and Esa combine for a lovely first keys then guitar trade off in the middle of the track, then back to the brutality of that dragging verse groove, that chorus though that is just brutal with the middle eastern feel in it, then the clean vocal again, lovely keyboard work in the back of this part, a good bit going on, it just makes that track sound absolutely massive!
Dancing Shadow
Layers of keys and a clean guitar part hits this one off and then a headbanging groove comes in with the clean guitar part, love the break then to the keys and the distorted bass, that verse with the tom groove the guitar and the clean vocals is sublime, it’s so happy sounding, then a lovely key change into the next part and a great mix of the clean and growl, then into the chorus part, its huge, I think something that can’t be under looked is the songwriting and the way the guys meld all the sections and parts together with quite a few key changes, and it all flows beautifully, the middle break has the keys take charge and that is a lovely little figure he is playing under the driving riff, then the guitar solo comes in, again it’s just what the song needs, melodic, not super flashy, just really serves the song, back into the chorus and it sort of ends unexpectedly, so far this is 3 out of 3 for me!
Fog to Fog
Slow haunting “Moonlight Sonata” piano part comes in, now if i played this intro to someone they would immediately think Nightwish, if you changed the guitar for a pipe, it’s a lush beautiful melodic intro, then the band kicks in, a good driving pulse on this one, as soon as I say that it drops back to the piano then they come back in again with a rolling tom groove with the melody still in the background, I love the vocal and that verse it’s so catchy, then key change and into the chorus, lovely mix of the clean vocal in front and the growls just interspersing the chorus, it’s that melodic figure though it just catches your ear and doesn’t leave, again great songwriting, the solo is really the melody with little bits in as well, then part two there is a lovely counterpoint section some great playing as always from Esa, then a beautiful break before it comes back into the chorus again and I love the way they half timed the end of it and it fades back to the solo piano, that’s epic!
The Strange
Piano and acoustic guitar comes right in with this one, again the production really lets this breathe and feel open sounding, then the band come in with an up-tempo feel, and what did I say before, key change with that lovely guitar figure and then boom, again into another change to the verse which is a real medium tempo driving riff with the guitar and keys playing a melody and the other guitar driving, nice pre chorus section with the growls and the melody guitar before the song lifts into the chorus, half played normal and then the double bass comes in to drive it along, nice change to the intro again after the second chorus, then a nice break to the pre chorus and into the chorus again, it’s another belter of a track!
Tempest
Straight in with the strummed acoustic guitar and piano with a delicate vocal from Tomi, then the rest of the band come in but it really doesn’t move from the softer feel, just a bit of punctuation, the next part though absolutely soars as the band comes in but you still have the acoustic going along, nice variation in the second verse, keeping the heavier guitars all the way through, then a great key change and we lose all the acoustics and it’s all heavy guitar with a great melody line flowing with the growling vocal before it breaks down again to the acoustic and piano, great songwriting, this is super melodic and really epic, just the way they have arranged the track, the keys sweep in to support a melodic guitar over a tribal drum part but you can feel everything building the then bang the band come in and Santeri plays a wicked keys solo, still melodic but there is definitely a bit of shredding in there, before Esa comes in, a soaring beautiful solo, full of feel and just the right note choices, no flash but absolutely serves the track and he lands right back into the chorus again, nice change to the twin vocals as the song key changes the chorus, super melodic but what a track, that is an absolute masterpiece of songwriting, loved it!
Light and Shadow
Now if someone doesn’t sample the start of this and put it in a dance track, they are missing a trick, has a real europop feel to it, then the band kicks in and it changes completely, lovely double bass groove carries it in and then a really cool transition into the next part which leads into the verse, the delay guitar following the melody, it is very pop in feel, and that’s not a bad thing, you will know what I mean when you hear it, double kicks come in for the chorus and then half time as it goes back into the verse part again, the solo is sort of the light in the dark for a lot of songs it just sort of emerges in the middle, there is a beautiful breakdown in the middle with the piano and clean guitar before the melodic line comes in again, key change into the last chorus, light and shadow is a good name, this track definitely has a lot of that!
The Lantern
Almost like a sci fi sort of intro with a brass sound and a piano coming in, then the band swoop in carrying the melody and a slow driving groove, again it’s all about that melody guitar that just keeps going, then it changes into the verse, slow drums and a driving guitar riff, but the piano is still carrying that melodic figure way int he background but enough for you to know it’s still there, then into the growls from Tomi, it’s devastating when you hear this part the contrast between him and the melodic guitars, I am going back to the production, everything is so clear and full sounding, the guitar and keys part in the middle of this is absolutely gorgeous, very 70s prog in a way, definitely like a Moog key sound, the way it changed to the guitar figure that went straight into the chorus was lovely, the track ended a bit abruptly is the only thing with this one!
Borderland
The keys really set the atmosphere off for this one, and it’s almost like a Celtic feel when the band comes in, an off-kilter groove but that melodic figure sort of puts me in that place, pretty sure we are in 6/8 time for this, it’s really does give me an Irish lilt to it, even when it straightens out into the next part it has that vibe to it, the chorus is absolutely massive and uplifting but again that guitar figure really gives me Celtic vibes, the vocals are lush and massive, the cleans are layered beautifully and then when the growl comes in it really adds punch to everything, not overused in that way, yeah that solo just reinforces the whole thing for me, that is an “Over the Hills and Far Away” thing for me, after the solo the whole production just expands with the keys and guitar melody providing the soundscape before the heavy pre chorus comes in, the chorus though is absolutely stunning, it’s so melodic and folk feeling, this could be my song of the album I think!
The Despair
Heavy synth pad, with a lonesome piano and a gut-wrenching guitar line to bring this in, immediately the song title feels like this part, then the band slowly comes in, it’s all very depressing feeling, even when the double kicks come in, the main guitar and melody are very slow so it’s a good contrast, the verse is very slow and deliberate Tomis vocal providing the light in this part, that change with the growl in the background into the pre chorus is fantastic then the double bass comes in as the intensity picks up, the whole time that melodic counter point guitar part is just in your ear, when it completely stops for the middle with the synth and guitar, it is such a lovely break in the track, so well placed, as it builds into the instrumental part the orchestration gets massive, the keys are all over the mix and there is a lot going on there, definitely listen to this with headphones, then back to the growling vocal pre and chorus part, again the arrangement and songwriting is fantastic, the way all these tracks have been crafted!!
10 out of 10I am going to say it again, the songwriting and the arrangements of the tracks on this album is absolutely fantastic, the playing is top class, yeah, I will say it’s very melodic but I think that it works with these songs, when the growls come in they add weight to the sections instead of being the focal point, it’s a beautifully crafted album and if you’re a fan of the band you will not be disappointed at all, an absolute masterpiece of melodic metal!
