TUNTEMATON SOTILAS

This album by Aardvark' (How does one pronounce the apostrophe?) manages to draw me in without overwhelming me. There is nothing on it that strikes me as particularly virtuosic, but the band's use of odd time signatures and phrases is at very least intriguing.

The songs stay in the somewhat hard rock realm, with the above mentioned time changes and prog flourished added on top. At times, mostly during vocal passages (none of which I can understand, as they are sung in Finnih), the group lays back too much, but only in one song, Koskelan Taisto is that much of a detriment.

In fact, despite the criticisms, I really do enjoy this group's style, especially the passages with overlaid bass tracks (how to attract other bass players).