SALATTU MAAILMA

Salattu Maailma is an album of diverse folk-rock from Finnish band, Kosmos, stretching from outright progressive rock of the opener to more of a country-folk of "Loitsu," to pastoral prog folk like "Simpukka," then to a more eerie ballad form of "Tuuli" and then to the realm of psychedlia with "Uni." All of it is very nicely composed, performed and recorded. I really appreciated the printing of the lyrics in English as well as the gorgeous album and web art work.

1. "Salattu Maailma" ("A Hidden World") (6:59) begins with a very MOODY BLUES/IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING feel and sound. When lead vocalist, Päivi Kylmänen arrives, the instrumental support includes beautifully finger-picked acoustic guitar, simple drum and bass with intermittent flute. Mellotron returns during the harmonized chorus. The instrumental C section between 3:05 and 4:30 is gorgeous and surprises us with a treated spoken voice in its middle. I cannot imagine a prog folk song being more beautiful or perfect than this one. (10/10)

2. "Simpukka" ("Seashell") (4:07) opens with the sound of waves and seagulls at the seashore. A finger-picked acoustic guitar gently introduces a "Here comes The Sun"-like melody and sound before Päivi joins in to punctuate this George Harrison theme. A very pretty folk song accented by flutes and a little Mellotron. (8/10)

3. "Loitsu" ("Incantation") (4:13) incorporates a much more straightforward folk-rock sound with strongly strummed acoustic guitar accompanied by drums, bass and, of course, the delicate vocals of Päivi Kylmänen. In the third minute a fiddle pops in for a folksy solo. Nothing very proggy, exceptional or even memorable about this one. (6/10)

4. "Pelli" ("The Mirror") (3:28) is a traditional sounding folk song which happens to beautifully showcase Päivi's extraordinary vocal talents. I am here reminded of Sandy Denny, Jane Relf, and the other understated female masters of the 60s folk rock tradition. (9/10)

5. "Tuuli" ("The Wind") (7:04) opens sounding very much like a classic JOHN MARTYN song--complete with that haunting Echoplex guitar sound. The chorale voice approach used here is also incredibly effective for reinforcing the eery feel of the song's opening. At 2:30 the song shifts as strumming acoustic guitar and bass and drums take over instrumental support for the "chorale" vocal singer/story-tellers. Melotron sneaks in during the fifth minute in a MOODY BLUES kind of way. Fiddler reappears for a pleasant solo in the sixth minute, giving the song more of a Celtic feel than it may have had before. (9/10)

6. "Uni" ("A Dream") (7:35) opens with the sounds one would associate with war-time air raid: sirens, bombs, screams, and the surprising silence and stillnesses of the bewildering aftermath. At 1:30 a male spoken voice begins telling a story over the sparse and discordant musical notes and sounds lilting in the back- and foreground. Near the three minute mark a gentle bass, almost imperceptible organ, Hammond synth/organ take over the song's soundscape--periodically joined by a n early-FRIPP-like fuzz guitar. (9/10)

7. "Takaisin Virtaan" ("Back to The Stream") (5:21) has very much the same feel and sound as the Rolling Stones' classic "You Can't Always Get What You Wanted"--same melody line and same pace, hand percussion use. Nice song but a little too familiar. (7/10)

Salaattu Maailma is a beautiful, though short album with some quite pleasant and memorable music by the angelic voice of 60s throwback Päivi Kylmänen.

Solid four stars. Takes me back to the beginnings of Prog Folk. Highly recommended.

Finnish band KOSMOS have been a recording entity since 2005, when they released their debut album "Tarinoita Voimasta". Since then three more full length productions have followed in 2007, 2009 and 2013 respectively. "Salattu Maailma" is the most recent of these, and was self released by the band themselves just like all their previous full length productions.

With "Salattu Maailma", the Finnish band Kosmos documents that there are still bands around that have a desire to create music with a basis in careful folk inspired music, expanding the scope of this core stylistic foundation to incorporate both psychedelic and to some extent symphonic oriented progressive rock as well, and that they are able to do so in a careful, frail and fairly unobtrusive manner. If low key, gentle psychedelic rock that builds upon a folk music inspired foundations sounds like something you would enjoy, this is a band that merits a check.

You know this long lived FInnish band is smart just from a glance at their credits. It's not even so much that they have two mellotron players, though that is awesome, but that they use mellotron at all, given all the generations of inadequate replacements to which old timers have been subject. For an instrument that by many measures counts as obsolete, it is more emotionally available than the darlings of technology will ever be. Here KOSMOS deploys it in the manner befitting its regality, with strings, choirs and authentic flute, plucked acoustic guitar, and, when nothing else will do, real violin accompaniment. Bonus points for their female singer, Päivi Kylmänen, to whom folk music is apparently a mother tongue. Did I mention this is a mellotron fest???

The best is first, "A HIdden World" invoking KING CRIMSON's debut while making the likes of PFM and CELESTE blush. Such low hanging fruit was barely or improperly harvested in the intervening decades for some reason, but not here. Is that mellotron "oboe" I hear? For the rest, plenty to enjoy if high complexity isn't a prerequisite, whether the even more folky "Seashell"; the straightforward folk rock of "incantation"; the initially ambient and then 12-string whipped "The Wind", with a tune, but nothing else, reminiscent of "Handicap and Equality" by PETER HAMMILL; and the largely instrumental "A Dream", which has more in common with BRIAN ENO or JADE WARRIOR but with mellotron!

With a name that translates as "The Encrypted World", the joys of this KOSMOS album are of the most rewarding prog folk kind, simple yet profound, and earthly yet ethereal.