IMPERFEKT

For me this album is the best achievement of this group, and due it's accessibility and fine quality I would recommend this most sincerely to anybody liking artistic rock music.

The album opens with a wonderful track "Telefonsamtal från norr ", sounding like softer version of modern Rush. Pleasant polyrhythmic guitar layers allow basis for very fine melodies, giving a fine first impression and setting proper mood for the album. The positive moods continue with the groovy second song leading to the delicate electronics of "Sväljer mina ord". The song has a pleasantly catching riff, strong melody lines, and pretty conclusion at the slow moments at the song's end. Nice acoustic mystic tale "In i dimman" follows sounding like a story told by a father to his children. "Ingenting" contains different contrasting elements, minor key intro leading to more faster hard rock riffs, which then reveal a quite dramatic melodic song, referring to the earlier riff now and then. This long track is quite logical with the changes, keeping coherent form within its vivid structures. "Styrd av plaskort" continues melodically in slightly oppressing moods, being calm and atmospheric song with interesting short sections in it. Next song "I verkligheten" has a form shifting from quiet moments to more rocking phases. "Sänt vi behöver" has a very nice quiet start, little reminding sounds on Landberk's "Indian Summer" record. This is quite pretty melodic number, though there's a contrasting elements composed to this song also. Following track "Enbart psykopat" starts similarly with a melodic moody part and changes then to more brisker rockier main tune. "Sagt och gjort" is quite basic pop/rock tune, very nice guitar solo found from it. Last track "En yrkeshjältes vedermödör" is the longest song here, having quite progressive start, with choral and everything, also pompous classical styled movements and flute sections reminding slightly tones of Änglagård. Here the song follows more logical straits, containing a small epic building from the separate compositional parts in vein of classic progressive rock song philosophies.

The record offers something for a listener wishing interesting musical content, but probably won't drive away listeners of more accessible conventional rock music either. Controversial musical elements are arranged well, creating pleasant and logical experience I liked the album cover concept much: Abstract and stylistic, then inside warm pictures of Finnish nature concealed within. Also from all of the four records I heard from the group this is clearly best, a highpoint achieved with the devoted work of honest musicians. It tastes like a life lived with love and sincere kindness.

3½ stars actually. The third and final album of this bygone Swedish-speaking Finnish group is their strongest effort. The production values are very good while the songs themselves don't manage to move me deeply, but on the other hand there are some really great prog moments in many of them. The unspectacular vocalist Dennis Nordell sounds more confident than before, but again I wonder why the pretty good female vocalist has so little participation - only backing vox on two tracks!? One of them, the opener, clocking under five minutes like most tracks on the album, is a nice, tight, prog-flavoured rocker; I agree on Eetu's thought "softer version of modern Rush", if speaking of the poppier, less heavy side of Rush (80's - 90's output mostly, keyboards involved). That energetic approach with demanding time signatures and other prog details in the relatively direct and rather vocal-oriented songwriting continues throughout the 61-minute album.

The crucial question therefor is, are there enough differences between the songs to prevent the long album become a little bit boring? The fourth track 'In i dimman' at least partially steps out of the harmless & positive atmosphere to the darker nuances. The clean-articulating vocals aren't quite as capable of expressive width as the playing, and this is sad because of the vocal-oriented structures. The album craves for instrumentals and/or instrumental sections! It's been so long since I've listened to it that I don't remember how much it develops into that direction. 'Ingenting', one of the two tracks over 8 minutes, contains good instrumental passages, and also the baby's cry in the end has a good surprise effect.

On the following songs the portions of various ingredients and moods alter a lot and the album gets more interesting - and distinctively progressive - as a whole. For example 'I verkligheten' has several succesful moments and especially keyboards are delicious, at one moment 70's style, the next pure Neo Prog. Very well for a song of under five minutes! The eight track contains pretty well-done vocal harmonies at one point. 'Sagt och gjort' is not proggy at all but it's a nice sounding, sincere and folky pop song. The 10-minute final track starts with a harpsichord, a brief theatrical choir... The very proggy song contains tempo changes, both heavier and more delicate passages, and with a better vocalist I'd think it's a gorgeous Spock's Beard-like contemporary prog piece. Or am I being too merciless for the vocals? They aren't that bad, really.

I hardly return to this album very often, and I'm afraid all the great moments in this well done but relatively unoriginal and unemotional album aren't quite enough for rounding up to four stars. But as a "good, but non-essential" three-star album this is definitely very strong.