THE HEMULIC VOLUNTARY BAND

Masterpiece on every level! I hadn't heard Ritual before this album, and I wasn't exactly quite sure what kind of music they were playing. However I had heard Kaipa, so I knew about what kind of vocals to expect, since the singer, Patrik Lundström, is the same.

This album consists of five shorter songs, and one massive epic in the end with the length of almost half an our. Almost every song is based on the novels by a Finland-Swedish author Tove Jansson, and the lyrics are generally original and inspiring. The vocals by Patrik Lundström couldn't be better.

The music is very melodic and it is in general very focused on catchy melodies throughout the album. There are no boring spots or songs. The way the music is built up reminds me about Gentle Giant every now and then, where lots of different patterns and melodies are made up to create this complex but working entirety. The music is well written and it's easy to listen.

My special attention goes to Dangerous Journey, which is probably the main song of this album. This epic tells a fascinating story that takes you into the world of hemulins and moomins and other creations of Tove Jansson's original fantasy. There are lots of acoustic parts here, but again it isn't boring at any point. It's a 26 minute marathon, so there are enough space for many different moods and different kinds of styles, including a heavier part somewhere at the end of the song.

This is for sure the best album I've heard in a while, and definitely deserves five out of five stars.