RUINATION

A peculiarly termed finnish group on this recording playing distinguished eclectic, progressive rock with frequent psychedelic flavours associated with Anekdoten, Astra and obvious King Crimson influences. The two-folded 'Sinister Water' suite is most accessible and to me most appealing of the tracks, mainly due to the high ratio of melodic and inventive instrumental passages. I am not equally thrilled when the raw psychedelic electric guitar drives the more monotonous sections that dominates some of the other songs, but the occassional pacey drum rhythms, ingenious bass lines and more symphonic touch to Starik makes that one a favourite as well. I do intermittently enjoy the record and really appreciate that this type of groups keep experimenting and expanding the genre. The highlighted tracks surely render the album worth collecting despite a few dismissive moments.

The band name doesn't make ANY sense to me. 'Kairon' would mean 'of Cairo' in Finnish, and my only thought of 'irse' is a misspelt 'arse'. As if that strangeness wasn't enough, the band placed also " ; " and " ! " into their name. But of course, if it's meant to raise confusion and to stick out from more ordinary band names, they succeeded.

KAIRON; IRSE! is a Finnish experimental rock band that released their debut album Ruination last year. Although they're categorized here as Post-Rock, their music could be seen as Psychedelic / Space Rock as well. Noisy, distorted electric guitar is central in the trippy and dense soundscape. The cover art reflects that all. The two parts of 'Sinister Waters' are the longest tracks (at 12-13 min) and they sure offer one hell of a ride. Occasional vocal moments that are slightly softer in sound but still pretty psychedelic in spirit, some heavy stoner rock parts with the roaring guitar (and violin?) mixed very loud, and towards the end, synth-filled prog rock ecstacy reminding of the early [Todd Rundgren's] Utopia.

From that on the album unfortunately gets more and more unpleasant mess of loud, distorted playing and Post-Rock-ishly estranged singing. Guitarist Lasse Luhta is responsibe of the lyrics, which I mostly can't hear properly. At least the dynamics are powerful as the sound keeps changing from aggressive loudness to dreamier nuances. Saxophone and clarinet (played by additional musician Andreas Heino) have to fight for their audibility instead of having more distinctive guest spots in the arrangements. Vocalist-bassist Dmitry Melet plays also violin, which only underlines the gritty sonic density. 'Porphyrogennetos' is another extended track and a highlight, even though the final half gets disturbingly noisy. Especially the final title piece 'Ruination' has Anekdoten-like dynamics between soft calmness and loud, crimsonesque edginess.

Personally I often find this music is too noisy and aggressive, but I do respect the risk-taking attitude and the unpredictability. Occasional softer moments feel the more effective when they are surrounded by stoner-like heaviness. 2½ stars rounded up for avoiding compromises and for the cover art.