HORTE

This eponymous album veiled in a beautiful and mysterious sleeve was launched in 2017 via Svart Records by a Finnish Post rock outfit HORTE. My first HORTE was their second creation "Horte II" released in 2018 for Roadburn Festival 2018, that I'm completely immersed in because of their deeply fuzzy, heavily distorted, but mystically beautiful soundscape. There is definitely a considerable gap between loud, aggressive rhythmic basis and sensitive, fragile melody lines plus disappearing breath of voices, and we should get absorbed momentarily in this gap, which can be heard apparently also in their first album. Such a sound fantasia might be in the same vein of Godspeed You! Black Emperor or so. In any case, nothing but the word "noble" can be spoken off through my mouth.

And Side A: The first "Sekvenssi" is quite typical. The first part gets started with quiet atmosphere, and suddenly fulminant sound dissection attacks us. The melodic streams are pretty delicate and acoustic, regardless of extreme, excessive playing by the drums and bass. The core of sound is heavy and depressive, but actually we could lean upon their mellow melodic breeze. Simple lines go ahead for our relaxation. Fascinating voices and dissonant bass rumblin' are crazy addictive in the following "Taajuus", a short track full of slowtempo, acceptable musical texture. On the contrary, in "Viimeinen Linja" we can enjoy heartwarming sound dreams with brilliant psychedelic synthesizer-oriented seasoning under good mood and tempo. A pleasure really. "Konttaa, Ne Konttaa" leaning towards the following ep is a slender ambience and simultaneously a bridge over a tune river with a quiet but swift current, to the next step (and my favourite) "Helmi", another simple but vast nature of psychedelic / post rock. Yes simple, very simple indeed, but repetitive sticky hearty phrases based upon melting voices completely ring our bells.

Turning to Side B: "78" is, contrary to the persistent last track upon the backside, a superb speedy space rock filled with power and magnificence. "9" featuring echoic sensual voices sounds like a long earthquake of dissonance. Delightful beautiful graceful melody lines along with steady drumming footprints in "Koko Kalmo Pakassa" is the representative flavourful track of HORTE themselves. Not complicated nor polyrhythmic at all but quite emotional, inspirational. In the last treasure box "Saatto" are full of their splendid sound diversity especially mellowness, deepness, distortion, and unification of all essence. Wondering why they could shoot such an energetic, delightful, and evocative creation. The debut album has climbed the mountain top up, let me say.