MALADY

At the time of the second album Toinen Toista (2018) of this very retro-spirited Finnish prog group I was enthused and gave it a five-star praise. From today's perspective I'd probably round it down to four stars. With this notion I'm kinda smoothening my slightly more reserved reception for this third album, indicating that it's not really a disappointment per se. According to the promo sticker on the vinyl's cover "Ainavihantaa is a step further and higher". I certainly get the point. In a way this is more ambitious prog in the manner of early King Crimson than their fairly mellow precedessors.

A change in the line-up is elemental in the sound. Exit guitarist Tony Björkman (leaving all the guitar duties to vocalist Baba Issabeigloo), enter Taavi Heikkilä on alto/tenor saxophone and clarinet. The presence of sax helps associating the music with the early Crimso and also with the Finnish vintage prog of Haikara. The overall mood is a bit darker than before. This is especially felt on the melancholic opener 'Alava vaara'. The Mellotron is in the core of the majestic vintage approach, and one could easily imagine Ian McDonald (r.i.p.) blowing the saxophone.

'Vapaa ja autio' (= "free and deserted") is a fine and rather mellow instrumental. The most solistic parts are for alto sax. 'Sisävesien rannat' (= "shores of inland waters") is instrumental for the large part. The first half is like a jam-based attempt of sounding like saxy prog from the late 60's/ early 70's before calming down to the serene and ethereal latter half with the vocal part. The clarinet & piano interplay brings an elegant chamber music ingredient. I wish this piece would have continued and made a stronger conclusion instead of just withering away.

I like the lyrics by drummer Juuso Jylhänlehto throughout the album. The imagery deals with nature -- the dying and rebirth -- and human beings in an introvert and esoteric way. The melodicism of 'Dyadi' (what is a dyadi??) comes perhaps the closest to the Toinen Toista album, but there's a slight sense of over- extension in seven minutes, at least in the instrumental tail. 'Haavan väri' is the other completely instrumental piece, again the sax is up front. Well, this is okay, nothing very impressive. The track title has two meanings: it can either mean "the colour of a wound" or "the colour of an aspen". It must be a leaf of an aspen on the cover (which I honestly consider rather dull). The album's title track may be my favourite. It has melodic delicacy and the majestic feel of the early symphonic prog, containing also strong details in the arrangement, trombone and trumpet guesting.

If you're not yet familiar with Malady but enjoy retro- oriented mellowish prog in Finnish, and have nothing against saxophone, this album is equally as recommendable as Toinen Toista.

After releasing two studio albums with the same 5 piece lineup Tony the guitarist has left and was replaced by a horn man thus changing their sound significantly. The singer also always played guitar and still does but there's much less of it. No guest flute like on the debut instead we get a trombone and trumpet player guesting on that final track. My first listens to an album are usually very telling as I have an ear for the things that I'm prejudiced about when it comes to my music and with this album I instantly had reservations about the style of that sax feeling it's getting a little too smooth there at times. Still many listens certainly overcomes some of the things that bug me and I do really like this album overall. I still prefer the debut though, it's more my style.

So six tracks and two of those are instrumentals. All the info in the liner notes is in Finnish just like the vocals. But yes the mellotron is back and the organ is again prominent. And I do like those understated vocals a lot. They remind me of some bands but not enough to put a finger on which ones. A nice warm analog sound here and the one thing this album beats the debut with are those uplifting moments like on the closer when the vocals and sound all gets louder after 5 minutes it's just such an emotional moment. And yes this album seems to break out much more than the debut which doesn't always mean it's a good thing.

The opener starts with some thought as we hear pings like on FLOYD's "Echoes" then synths roar in before it turns heavy. Best part is when it calms down and the vocals arrive reminding me of the debut. Organ floats in the background with a slow beat plus throbbing bass lines. It all gets louder after 3 minutes as a horn joins in. A calm follows then synths growl over the bass and drums. Vocals are back before 4 1/2 minutes. Themes are repeated. A really good opener. Next is an instrumental that brings VIOLETA DE OUTONO to mind at the beginning, mainly the organ and picked guitar. A change as clarinet arrives and much more. I love how it brightens at 1 1/2 minutes. Pretty cool and a moving section for me with that picked guitar, floating organ, bass and drums. That might be my favourite.

A catchy chugging rhythm on the third track. Mellotron flutes after a minute and I like that guitar as it all calms down here. Horns join in before 2 minutes. Mellotron is great. That catchy rhythm is back! Themes keep coming back in this one. Vocals for the first time at 4 minutes during a calm. "Dyadi" opens with atmosphere as drums and bass join in. Mellotron floods the place. Yeah this is really good. Not as good when the horns and vocals arrive but it's still excellent. Organ kicks in. It's moving as the vocals get more passionate 2 minutes in. "Haavan Vari" is the shortest track and a cool little instrumental. Love that bass and the guitar around 1 1/2 minutes. Organ comes in with authority a minute later. Not big on the honking horn style later on that closer, reminds me of THE BEATLES.

I really like this band they do it right even though I feel they could do each album better, but that's more my tastes than anything else.

This is the debut of a new band out of Finland called MALADY released in 2015. A five piece and three of them at least are multi-instrumentalists. We get vocals on four tracks as he sings in the Finnish language and I like his voice. The two short tracks do not have singing on them. Man this makes me regret the decision to hold off doing my Psychedelic list until this Summer. I was going to start this new year but decided I want to review some of the music I already have including stuff that's on the way. The music here has a strong psychedelic vibe but we get folky pieces and those retro symphonic ones and for the most part it's quite pastoral and JORDSJO isn't a bad reference at all as this Finnish band uses the old school analog equipment. This is warm and soft but not without it's breakouts.

We get two guests adding flute and another, actually the producer adding mellotron on the short closer. Love the guitar sound and style, in fact I was reminded of LANDBERK at times. Heck I was reminded of Sweden a lot with this one(haha. And I feel that this is a mature release for the debut as they really keep their enthusiasm in check with little in the way of showing off like many young bands like to do. Very disciplined in my opinion. But man this is all about the mood and atmosphere that they bring to the table and I want more. Just love that retro sound when it's done right.

Highlights include the 8 1/2 minute opener with that returning guitar melody throughout that brings LANDBERK to mind. Themes are repeated here and it's surprisingly dark with that opening bass line as sounds echo. Relaxed vocals before 1 1/2 minutes. It does kick in with the guitar and organ providing the amperage. The other song I really like is "Aarnivalkea" and at 10 1/2 minutes it's the longest. Just love that opening sound as the organ floats in while fragile vocals arrive. Bass then guitar before a minute. It's louder 2 minutes in with the organ and drums leading the way. Vocals and mellotron lead then a minute later it brightens thanks to the guitar mostly. Vocals are back and more determined 4 minutes in. The section that follows is energetic and "up" then another calm before 9 minutes.

The third track "Pieniin Saariin" is 8 minutes in length and the vocals bring another band to mind but I can't think of the name. Vocals go from mellow to more passionate like the music. "Unessakavelija" is my final top four. The two shorter songs just aren't nearly as good as the four long ones in my opinion. This one is 7 1/2 minutes long with some piano and even a Canterbury vibe with that organ later on.

Again this one is all about the mood and sound and the seventies never sounded so good. These guys do it right. A very solid 4 stars.

Malady from Finland released its first LP on the SVART label in 2015, presenting to the public its analogue sounding retro-prog with influences of early Camel, Meddle-era Pink Floyd and probably seventies Finnish groups like Haikara and Wigwam. By recording the album the authentic way the band reaches a sound that does actually sound like the real thing - an album recorded in the early seventies - but it als greatly diminishes the mixing possibilities. The album does offer a lot for fans of the retro subgenre; great melodic guitars, soft psychedelic rock landscapes, warm organs and some nice echoey fuzz guitars. The singing in the Finnish language adds to the obscurity feel, though the vocals aren't a particular highlight on this release. The album has some great musical themes, chord progressions and solo's, but it all feels like it is (live) performed rather hastily; a mistake that almost every starting band would make back in the seventies. My guess is that this album will charm a lot of people despite its flaws, but I myself would recommend listening to their more mature 2018 follow-up record 'Toinen Toista' first. I wouldn't be at all surprised at all if this band will one day release a great retro-prog album like Jordso's Nattfiolen (2019), so fans of this genre should keep a close eye on this band.

Lately I've gained interest in the Finnish prog scene, mainly due the vinyl reissues of the Svart label. I had never heard of band Malady before, but I ordered both their vinyls after hearing a few songs online. I love that magical atmosphere of the early Camel albums and Malady delivers just that; slightly introverted progressive rock with warm organs, melodic electric guitar (both Latimer his lead-style and Gilmour's early echoey fuzz lead come to mind) and drowsy moody vocals. By singing in the Finnish language the band sometimes reminds me of the artistry of the classic Italian progressive rockbands. As a wild card Malady plays the amazing melodic bass guitar of Jonni Tanskanen, who casts memories of Khan's bassist Nick Greenwood. The whole album is drenched in an lively analogue sound in which the breath of the performance shines through. By not cleaning up minor imperfections (which a musician like me might spot) the music is that much more realistic and personal.

Malady mixes the melodic and rockin' side of Camel with the slightly laid back approach of Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother & Meddle period. The final track, the 23 minute 'Nurja puoli' is a surprisingly easy-going example of this mix, with its many melodic sections in the major key - reminding me of that 'Song Within a Song' nostalgic happy-sad vibe. Like most Finnish groups, the traditional folk traditions of the country are also apparent. Within the progressive tradition Malady doesn't invent the wheel here, nor does it pretends to do so. On 'Toinen Toista' this band proves that you actually can re-enact that perfect early seventies feel, and sustain it on an arguably flawless record. You'll find no production glitches here.

Malady from Finland, much like Jordsjo from Norway, represents the fruitful Scandinavian retro-prog movement of these last years. Comparing this fine release to the top records of 2018, this album definitely deserves a place in the top ten of that year.

PS. I would suggest this band be moved to the symphonic prog genre.

Great to see this Finnish band finally added. If one listened to albums of Malady in a blindfold test, without knowing the band and their music in advance, it would be very easy to think it was a long-lost item of vintage Finnish-language prog from early/mid- 70's, comparable to Haikara, Tabula Rasa, Fantasia and Nimbus. Malady begun as a side project of a Helsinki-based doom/stoner band in 2010, with guitarist Tony Björkman, bass/guitar/piano player Jonni Tanskanen and drummer Juuso Jylhänlehto being the founding members. The original humble goal was to release a prog album before any of the members would be 50. But apparently everything took place faster than they expected; the eponymous debut was released in 2015, and it was warmly greeted in the Finnish music media, which normally doesn't pay a lot of attention to new progressive rock bands.

Malady makes music in a pure retro style with analog keyboards and recording systems. That results as a warm and natural sound, like it was made in the 70's. Even the vocals of Babak Issabeigloo sound a bit hazy like it is quite often the case in vintage Finnish prog. The charmingly melancholic debut was very promising, and the expectations for the follow-up are definitely fulfilled with this album. The title Toinen toista can be translated in several ways; one of them is 'the 2nd day of February' which was the official date of release in 2018.

The nearly 7-minute title track starts with a meditative psychedelic haziness before it turns into melodic instrumental prog. The sparse and moody vocals arrive after the halfway. Listeners of classic prog feel immediately at home with the sound drawing from the same ancient prog well that gave birth to albums such as In the Court of the Crimson King, Mirage or Meddle. The real Mellotron at the end leads seamlessly into the brief instrumental interlude 'Laulu sisaruksille' (= Song for siblings) starring violin. 'Tiedon kehtolaulu' (= Lullaby of knowledge) is a slightly lighter prog song, graced by the guest appearances for flute and Mini-Moog. 'Etsijän elinehto' is equally full of melodic and emotional depth.

The fifth and final track is a side-long epic 'Nurja puoli' (= The adverse side) which guarantees the album's place among the finest Finnish retro-oriented prog releases in my opinion. The piece is not notably differing from the basic style of Malady with the alternation between instrumental and vocal sections, but it proves that the band handles also large structures with similar ease. The metaphysic lyrics written by Jylhänlehto may not come very close to the listener, but they fit very well to the music's atmosphere. I'm enjoying this album enough for full rating, even though I understand that someone might consider the retro approach as a lack of originality. If you're interested in the Finnish-language prog and enjoy the 70's bands I mentioned above, you'll find it very easy to enjoy this relatively mellow and melodic album.