VIMMA

Not quite as chaotic as its title suggests, and not quite as frenzious as the group name suggests, "Tornadon silmässä" is nonetheless a pleasing second entry from a band that wants to evolve organically and document its transitions as they occur.

On their debut which translates to "Sea and Space" the blend is somewhere between jazz fusion and world music with classical meanderings in between. Because VIMMA wants to impart morals of importance to them, they sometimes choose to do so in the sultry spoken words of Eeva Rajakangas, and always in the mother tongue. This makes some of the tracks less penetrable to those few of us with limited connections to the Finnish language, but I also note that the best of these are so relatable musically that she could be expounding on any subject in any language and I would follow her. In particular, "Sunlight cannot reach here" recalls the blind harpist O'CAROLAN via the wonders of early CLANNAD with piano replacing the harp, and the mesmerizing "8.0" magically fits anyone who can walk, and maybe a few who thought they couldn't, with dancing shoes for 7 celebratory minutes of fiddle, mouth music, piano, bouncy rhythms, and even guitar crunches. If only it didn't stop. Also worth mentioning are the winds of Jaakko Arola which here and in other tracks recalls a long departed Breton group TI JAZ.

Singular this certainly is, and at its best VIMMA's execution is stunning, but that's not quite often enough to raise their first album to the next level, leaving space for improvement.

But you know what? The poppier approach suits VIMMA extremely well. This music shares more in common with the individualistic Finnish female pop artists of today, such as Yona, Lyyti, M, Chisu, Vesala, Maritta Kuula etc. than with the legacy of progressive rock. And in that "pop" context both the lyrics get more weight and the music's personal charasteristics can be admired, helping the band to stick out. The rap-reminding spoken word orientation surely feels more at home here than on the debut which a casual listener would probably think to be difficult and disjointed. I sincerely hope this album will reach wider audience and VIMMA will get more attention in the Finnish music media and airplay. They truly deserve it.

The opening song 'Maailmanloppu' ('Apocalypse') was recorded also in German and in English; those versions are added as bonus tracks. [That means the actual album is rather short, about 32 minutes.] An excellent pop song it is. The cute vocals of Eeva Rajakangas are used melodically and the bright synth-dominated sound feels fresh.

'Antrasiitille' is the song I reviewed earlier when it was released. The double violins add a folk element to the otherwise very electrified and catchy musical backing for the spoken word oriented vocals. The brief and slow- tempo 'Kielot' begins quietly and increases the intensity in a gorgeous way. 'Sateenkaari ja ilmapallo' is also in a rather slow tempo and features proper vocal melodies. A beautiful, melancholic pop ballad with a sonically rich production. 'Kasveille' is basically poetry-reading with a hypnotic musical backing plus some ghostly vocal treatment. Especially enjoyable are the rhythm section and the sharp violin riff slightly reminiscent of some moments in Kate Bush's "The Ninth Wave" suite. 'Unohdetaan' is a pretty, folky instrumental piece highlighting violins, piano and harmonium.

The harder-sounding title track is where the angriness about the pitiful state of planet Earth is rubbed against one's face, but the musical energy with a powereful prog edge is to be appreciated. 'On syy' bravely combines delicate melancholia and louder moments. This is where I came to think of Yona, one of my contemporary Finnish favourite artists, for the vocals. On the final track 'Seisahdumme pieneen huoneeseen' the vocals are part singing, part spoken word, and the piano/synth dominated backing is very spacy.

Even though I'm not giving another full rating, in a way I feel this is an improvement from the debut, especially for the production. (If ProgArchives allowed half stars, maybe I'd rate both albums 4½. I round it down this time, using the excuse of the lesser amount of prog and the album's brevity.) In the supplementary leaflet the lyrics are printed both in Finnish and in English, but undoubtedly this album is primarily for the Finnish pop listeners; probably the rest of you don't even know the artists I referred to above.

The drummer is also astonishing - 4.6

Be prepared to here a huge amount of violin, on all the tracks. Fortunately with an incredible diversity: fingered, as on the beginning of 2nd track. As a chamber instrument on some tracks. With irish tunes, as on the 7th song. There's even a track that is performed only by him - the 3rd.

Now I'll tell about the introduction. I love when the group finds an outstanding tune and decides to start it on piano solo. When they begin the album this way, they really capture my heart. And Vimma performs it so gentle, soft but also with intriguing double tempos, that it stands as one of the highlights of this disc.

I don't give them 5 stars or a note close to that because of two errors (for my taste and audition): the decision to give such great space to the violin most of the time is the best decision; but sometimes its tunes aren't so amazing. Other thing: some instruments make great contributions, but have too little space on the album. Examples: guitar, piano and clarinet.

A strong 4.4 stars.

Vocalist Eeva Rajakangas is once again actually speaking -- almost in a rap/ hip hop style -- the meaningful, climate crisis themed lyrics instead of singing, but she does it with expressive power, and not entirely devoid of melodies. The musical arrangement is exciting: very electrified (soft-sounding synths are almost reminiscent of electronic music) and containing a hypnotic beat, combined with violins playing a folky riff. I find myself enjoying this song more than I would have guessed. It really works as a hip hop flavoured, electro-acoustic folk pop, or whatever you may call it. The production is excellent. Hopefully a whole album is coming in near future.

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'Preludium' is a beautiful solo piano piece with a romantic and impressionistic elegance. Although the line-up info mentions only violin as the instrument of the main composer Pessi Jouste, he's the performer of this piece, according to the booklet. Jouste's next 6-minute composition 'Sunlight Cannot Reach Here' marvelously reveals VIMMA's Eclectic Folk Prog diversity. Mostly instrumental, it reminds me of the Folk Fusion of JUHA KUJANPÄÄ, sounding more progressive in comparison. At 4:47 the female vocalist Eeva Rajakangas starts reading the poem and the music gradually disappears from the background. "We should not have started a war against the nature" is the final line. The album's lyrics are primarily dealing with the critical state of our planet and the fatal greed and ignorance of mankind, but despite being angry at times, I think they are fairly interesting poetry nevertheless.

On 'Cadenza' Pessi Jouste is soloing on violin. Stylistically reminiscent of old composers such as Bach, Vivaldi and Paganini -- but luckily it's not a fast virtuoso number à la Paganini! 'The Eighth Day' features a very intense poetry performance backed by a sharply dynamic musical arrangement, and this is where VIMMA steps into the RIO/Avant Prog territory. Fans of that subgenre will be impressed, although I fully understand if the poetry dominance puts off some listeners. 'A Planet' is composed by the group's pianist Aino Kallio. The vocal delivery is this time better woven into the music which moves from piano centred angular jazz to violin-fronted progressive rock.

On '8.0' (no idea about the meaning of the title) the repetitive poetry performance has a hip-hop flavour while the music is tonally very rich Folk Prog/Fusion. On the hard rocking part especially the drummer Vilho Louhivuori shines. 'A Story' is composed by the bassist Ansku Mellanen. Vocalist-lyricist Eeva Rajakangas proves she also handles the melodic, more ordinary singing with her nice voice. As a prog song this would be a suitable calling card from the album, combining the band's avantgarde side and the more melodic side excitingly. My personal favourite may be the final track 'Water' composed by reeds player Jaakko Arola. For the vocals this is the most melodic of songs, and the composition shifts beautifully between Tull-reminding rhythmic complexity and lyrical serenity.

Upon my initial listening I was admittedly reserved especially for the non-singing poetry performance, but gracefully the album gets more melodic towards the end. The playing is excellent, the instrumentation so rich, and on the scale of uniqueness VIMMA are surely worth the praise. What the hell, I give a full rating!