XIII

Nurkostam are new Finnish progressive/art rock band,found in 1998 in Tampere by Tero Koski, Toni Nurmi and Janne Tamminen.The name of the band is a combination of the members' initial letters of their surnames and the core of the band remained the same trio through the years despite the addition of several session musicians.A short EP entitled ''XIII'' was their first release,a downloadable upon iTunes Store album.

The sound is a mix of old and modern school Art-Prog Rock,like the good opening instrumental cut,which sounds a lot like ANEKDOTEN with Fripp-ian guitar work all the way and a dark atmosphere overall.The same path continues with ''Dome'',intense mellotron/organ-led art rock with fine vocal work and some GENESIS-inspired melodies thrown in.The soft ''Alone'' is a cool ballad in the vein of the famous ''Afterglow'' song of GENESIS with a slight Scandinavian feeling,while the atmospheric organ sounds are a good intro to the follower ''Between'',an excellent piece of keyboard-driven slow psychedelic music with fantastic vocals.With ''Madness'' the band returns to the opening style,intense organ-driven Scandinavian modern Psych/Prog with distorted vocal lines and high music quality.''Archie'' is a different story,now the band sounds a lot like RADIOHEAD with deep slow bass lines,expressive vocals and psych guitar work.

Generally Nurkostam are a very good modern Scandinavian band,they lack a bit in originality,but these six compositions show a band with talent and through some hard work they can be a great act in the future.''XIII'' comes strongly recommended especially for fans of atmospheric Scandinavian Prog in the vein of ANEKDOTEN,LANDBERK,LIQUID SCARLET...3.5 stars.