LÄHTÖ MATKALLE

They have a new keyboardist for this their second album.They also added a full time bass player, and have a guest playing synths on a couple of tracks. Oh, there is also a string section for one song. This album isn't as dynamic as the debut, much more laid back with the guitar being toned down quite a bit.

"Alpha" is mellow with plenty of atmosphere early before the drums come in. Tasteful guitar 2 1/2 minutes in goes on and on until the piano takes over before 5 minutes. Keys and bass are prominant as well. "Elvin" is a melancholic and slow moving track until a breakout 2 minutes in but it's brief. Another outburst after 4 minutes but this time it continues. Great sound with the keys and bass. Guitar comes in after 6 minutes.

"Don" is a very jazzy tune. The guitar is enjoyable after a minute. Drum solo after 2 1/2 minutes. "Lahto Matkalli I" opens with that guest string section for over 1 1/2 minutes. The tempo picks up 4 minutes in with some nice keyboard work. Guitar comes to the fore 6 1/2 minutes in as bass throbs. Strings are back before 8 minutes. "Lahto Matkalle II" opens with gentle piano. Pretty slow going actually. Guitar eventually joins in. Drums after 3 minutes and synths. A change before 6 minutes. Organ after 8 1/2 minutes. The song fades out to end it.

A nice relaxing album with some excellent playing on it. I much prefer their debut though. Still this is a solid 4 stars.

With a revamped line-up after Rissanen's departure, the band becomes a (standard prog) quartet y adding keyboardist Linkola and reacquainting with bassist Hiekkala. Well the new arrivals definitely changed the band's sound and one can only notice a shift away from the symphonic prog (mainly due to Rissanen's classical training) to slide towards a much fierier still-instrumental jazz-rock ala Mahavishnu Orchestra, even if they will never reach the speed of light execution and the 200 notes/second sound-barrier of McL's crew. Released on the inevitable Love Record label in 76, the album sports a superb lonely tree on an otherwise-barren land. Too bad it will get lost in the album's sole CD reissue.

Where their debut album featured eight tracks, the LM successor featured only five, for a longer overall duration, including a two-part sidelong title track. Right from the first notes of the opening Alpha track, one can hear MO inspirations, but Finnforest cannot be reduced to that lone influence either. Indeed, Elvin is a quite slower tune, but shifting constantly of time and key changes. One of the main sonic changes is that Linkola makes a greater use of his ARP synth (a bit at the expense of the organ), but it fits the band's new directions to a tee. The album-shortest Den track presents an ultra-funky ARP-and-Rhodes dominated fusion, which also indulges in a (unneeded) drum solo, but it presents a different facet of their new line-up.

The sidelong title track is a much more complex piece that includes some extended string arrangements and orchestrations. It is indeed the orchestra that opens the first movement, and plays "solo", before dying down and allowing the group to take over. In the slow but implacable crescendo that will follow, the strings come back regularly for dramatics- induced interventions. When the group is in its full twin-barrel turbo speed, it is reminiscent to Mahavishnu mixing body fluids with a horn-less Zao/Magma. Sounds intriguing??? You bet your arse, it is! The second half opens on Linkola's slow melancholic piano, but the group slowly inserts its excellent grain of salt, and Linkola shifts to the organ and plenty of that ARP synth, with Hiekkala's bass romping all over its fretboard. Excellent stuff. The band would go on for a while after the album's release, but it was unstable and it folded apart, to rise from its ashes two years later and record their final album under the same line-up, but with a main composer shift to drummer Jussi. This second album is my personal fave over the debut, but it is rather difficult to dissociate them apart since the only possible CD reissue is the Laser's Edge 2on1, which I used to review Finnforest's albums I've heard. Much recommended.

The sophomore album from these Finnish jazz-rockers notes some lineup and directional changes.

1. "Alpha" (8:10) delicate, spacious horn-like synthesizer notes backed with gentle electric piano support open this song before bass and drums join in during the second minute. Electric guitar joins in a rhythm support capacity in the third minute as the band establishes a medium-paced two chord jazzy rock motif for guitarist Pekka Tegelman to solo over. There's both a Herbie Hancock (post-Mwandishi) and Larry Coryell feel to this music. And then the solo stick is passed to Julla Linkola for an electric piano solo during which the music thins a bit and the rhythm track becomes more straightforward than it was (though retaining its driving funky-jazz-rock momentum). In the early eighth minute the keyboard solo ends and the musicians all seem to just quit: they stop. For quite a lengthy pause. But then they restart for a 30-second finish. Weird ending to a weird song. The sophisticated foundational weave is kind of cool and interesting, the solos all proficient and, likewise, interesting, but something is lacking in the spirit of "purpose" and "ending" that bewilders--as if, despite their obvious skills and intelligence, the band still has some growing to do. (17.75/20)

2. "Elvin" (8:30) opening with a cryptic, cinematically-tension-filled syncopated keyboard, bass, drums, and guitar weave, the syncopated chord and note hits become more insistent as the drums assert more power and influence, but then they back off and really promote the decay of their hits with lots of spaces between the hits. In the third minute Peter Tegelman's volume-controlled electric guitar takes on a little solo-like leadership role though the band as a whole--Peter included--remain quite focused on keeping to the odd rhythmic syncopation pattern. Then, at 4:25 the band shifts into full forward with a synth-led Percy Jones-like bass-backed two-chord cruising weave over which two synthesizer players (Perti Pokki and Julla Linkola) then take turns squirting and screaming their solos as if they were both Jan Hammers. And this is the way it plays out till the engineering fadeout ends the song four minutes later. What starts out with such amazing discipline and coordination turns into a full-out jam session! Weird. (17.875/20)

3. "Don" (4:21) a very proggy weave and sound palette plays a pseudo-jazz opening before devolving into a funky rock instrumental with Pekka Tegelman's distorted electric guitar taking the first solo. His followed by the odd electronic sound of Pertti Pokki's synthesizer, then a tight, professional drum solo from Jussi Tegelman which is followed by a return to the main motif for the finish. (8.75/10)

4. "Lähtö matkalle I" (8:36) beautiful symphonic orchestra opens before smooth jazz rock gets involved and takes over. Turns into a great jam with great keyboard and bass play from Julla Linkola and Jarno Hiekkala, respectively. Mahavishnu Orchestra's orchestrated album Apocalypse obviously had a huge impact on the band's composers. (19.25/20) 5. "Lähtö matkalle II" (10:39) opens with gentle piano chord play fading upward while subtle orchestral instruments support. Heavily distorted bass steps up to solo in the third minute over the six cycling piano chords. Drums begin to join in during the fourth minute--very dramatically--never really settling into a supportive rhythm pattern until the very end of the sixth minute. The footprint of this song is quite heavy, quite bombastic, and kind of celebratory (like the end of a war or something like that.) Not sure if this song is meant to be paired with "Lähtö matkalle I" since they both seem so isolated and self-contained, but what a pair of songs to finish this album! Oh, and Jarmo Hiekkala can play bass. (17.75/20)

Total Time: 40:16

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece from a band that feels as if it still has room to grow despite their impressive musicianship and compositional skills. Highly recommended to any self-acclaimed prog lover.