TRENCH OF LONELINESS

Here's the first review for this Finnish artist. An excellent bio by Gordy, by the way. Behind this Latin moniker is Jesse Heikkinen, probably best known as the guitarist in Hexvessel which is also in ProgArchives. Trench of Loneliness is already the fourth release -- the first two were only roughly 29 minutes long -- but the first one to enter my radar. All ten tracks here are of regular length between 3 and 5 minutes, and performed entirely by Heikkinen (apart from tin whistle on the last song).

This music is generally very gloomy and melancholic neo/psych/dark folk. The opening song 'My Name Is Sorrow' sets the tone for the most of the other pieces to follow. The arrangements are rooted on acoustic guitar and ghostly hovering synths. For starters, think of the late sixties Pink Floyd song 'Julia Dream'. The vocals however come closer to e.g. Nick Cave. Another modern day artist used as a reference is the American psych folk band Espers, but in comparison Iterum Nata is, fairly understandably as a one-man effort, sonically narrower.

The tempo is mostly kept rather slow. For the overall mood the album tends to appear as a bit monotonous and tiresome in a casual listening, but the closer you listen to it, the more you notice how melodic it is in the end, and that several songs do have their own personal charm. Perhaps the first four songs or so, none of them bad per se, are most alike in their dark and melancholic "dwelling in solitude" nature. 'The Feather' sticks positively out as an instrumental with a Post-Rock flavour. 'The Mountain' has a faster tempo and a more vital musical performance, including nice percussion.

'Losing Connection', despite continuing the general gloominess, somehow sounds more empowering than the first third of the album, and the slightly country-ish 'I Only Sing With the Dead' even seems to have a tongue-in-cheek attitude, as if the artist looks into his morbid themes with a light-hearted irony. I'm thinking of the Finnish cult band Leningrad Cowboys. The biggest surprise comes in the end: 'Comedy of Humanity' is a relaxed, melodic poprock anthem that makes me think of Traveling Wilburys (Lynne, Orbison etc), and also the arrangement is much wider and more dynamic than on the album in general. This song really stays in your mind afterwards, whether a good or a bad thing. Heikkinen could have attempted to reach more of this variety in moods, and undoubtedly collaborating with fellow musicians or producers would have done good. Solid three stars earned nevertheless.

With ITERUM NATA exploring our spiritual connections, it seems only fitting that the state of loneliness be elevated to the same worth as Christianity or Buddhism in one's quest for meaning and fulfillment. Probably the most melodic of Heikkinen's releases so far, and most accessible, or least inaccessible at any rate, "The Trench of Loneliness" is perhaps less varied but paradoxically less repetitive, and the hard rock excursions of its predecessor are largely absent. Arrangements are still chiefly cavernous 12-string and caressing synths that emerged from mellotron pupae, along with understated yet emotive vocals.

As before, several monumental tracks anchor the work, here the hypnotic instrumental "The Feather" (reminiscent of fellow Nords NORDAGUST), the anthemic "Forgotten Friends" and the TENHI on uppers "The Mountain" (though PROMETHEAN also comes to mind), which stands out for its percussion and uptempo if hardly blissful mood. Even the somewhat predictable course of "Bones in the Forest" is offset by the chill it invokes. "Losing Connection" empathetically speaks to the sorrow of the disappearing magic in any bond between two people or within a group. As the album winds down, the cloud is lifted somewhat, with a sense of optimism prevailing in both the words and music, not that the rest is depressing to me, as the protagonist faces his ennui head on throughout.

I think I am slightly partial to "The Trench of Loneliness" over prior works of ITERUM NATA as its themes and playing resonate more with my own experience. It's also Hiekkinen's meatiest release, being almost the length of a 1975 LP, offering scope for both losing and finding oneself again.