TENHI

That isn't to say that the release is entirely interchangeable with what came before, mind. There's a certain epic sweep and a sense of the cinematic here - like this is the album Tenhi really, really hope some Hollywood producer notices so that they can get some soundtrack work going. It isn't enough to push the album into mercenary sellout territory, but it is enough to give it a distinct flavour of its own which at least reassures the listener that Tenhi's musical development has not altogether ceased.

As the prominent instrument, piano is not as effusive as the synthesizers on other releases, but the touch of Issakainen is as somber as ever, drawing comparisons to DAVID SYLVIAN's "Secrets of the Beehive" albeit with more dissonance than even Sylvian could muster.

Your personal favourites, if I can employ this superficial expression, may vary, but I find the first few tracks resonate the most, tackling the most formidable goal of inducing the appropriate response, whatever it may be for you. The remainder are decent if less striking, and occasionally too moribund for even this project. An exception is "Oikea Sointi", which is a starkly tinkling ballad on ice, one that I would love to hear with the more typical TENHI arrangement, though it would be hard to improve upon the impact of this rendition.

Perhaps more than other TENHI albums, "Airut: Aamujen" beckons the listener into quite another realm, both dire and comforting. When it succeeds, it does so by reaching a guarded space within us that seems too personal to share, offering solace and a path to solemn disembodied communion.

CD1 presents a set of mini-releases from early in the band's career. First up is Kertomuksia, Tenhi's first demo, which mostly consists of material which would be rerecorded for their first two albums, aside from "Tenhi" itself, but it remains an interesting starting point for the band which reveals their command of atmosphere from an early stage in their development. It's followed up by the more self-assured Hallavedet, which raises the question "How long must a single run before it becomes an EP?" It boasts only two tracks but has a nearly 16 minute running time. Compared to their debut demo, this shows a bit more polish, as well as incorporating a greater use of vocals. CD1 is rounded off with Airut;Ciwi. Centred around the epic Kielo, this mini-release from Tenhi finds them getting closer to their creative peak but still not yet attaining it.

The second disc's collection of alternate versions, demos, and unreleased songs holds up remarkably well for such an odds-and-sods collection, a credit to the consistent quality of Tenhi's work as well as the distinctiveness of their titular folk aesthetic. The collection is rounded off with Kaski, an entire unreleased album, whose laid-back, almost folk- ambient style and vocal experiments makes me very glad it was saved from the cutting room floor because it can sit with pride next to the rest of Tenhi's discography.

If you're a Tenhi superfan, this would clearly be an essential release for you; looking at things with a bit more perspective, though, this isn't a five-star collection simply because the material here isn't consistently of five-star quality - but then again, it doesn't really dip below four stars either. As far as vault-raiding collections go, that's doing pretty well.

In retrospect, The seeds had been sown on "Maaaet", as the vocals were already usurping the cold comforts rather than melding to them, making that release their least satisfying to that point. Here, on songs like "Haaksi", "Pienet Purot" and "Paluu Joelle", they resume the apparent goal of attaining musical rigor mortis, and by and large succeed. There are even attempts at becoming the 4732nd band to try their hand at the monastic chants.

The album's best moments occur early, with the two openers both chiseling an icy soundscape of hypnotic melancholy. Nothing else really comes close, as the synchronicity in even the most minor shifts on Tenhi's first 2 albums seems to have been lost, which could explain the dearth of recent productions. For all I know, shedding those worldly associations might be necessary in order to pass to the next spiritual plane, but, if that's the case, I'm not sure I'm interested.

Not quite up to the high standards of prior releases, "Maaaet" plays sufficiently to the band's strengths to garner high recommendations if you are partial to well earned despondency, Nordic style.

Thankfully the vocals remain unadorned and unobtrusive, somewhere between the whispered chants of their debut and the more accomplished rantings of WOVENHAND. In fact, the remarkable riff of "Jaljen", so riveting that it took me a while to realize that there were vocals at all, and the uneasy alt country meets Aboriginal flow of "Sutoi", hone in on the moods and timbres of that American band.

"Katve" is more up tempo with its swirling flutes and rapid strumming affording a Moorish sentiment, more suggestive of bands like ASIA MINOR or PROMETHEAN, and not out of place at all here. Elsewhere keyboards and strings help thicken the atmosphere of mini epics like "Vilja" and "Yola. Later on rhythm plays a pivotal role in both the vocals and the arrangements of "Varis Aloinen", which works well here as an exercise in contrasts but might render the listener nonplussed if replicated too often on one release, which it thankfully is not, at least not yet.

"Vare" is another winning release from these masters of morose nature and nurture, recommended to a wide range of prog folk and neo folk fans, and those who take joy in music that is intrinsically eclectic.

Simply arranged with strummed acoustic and electric guitars in generally slow tempos; drearily resigned vocals lurking beneath an already sombre surface; occasional morose violin effected in a Northeastern European style, and elegant synthesizer washes, the austere and stark beauty of "Kauan is a triumph of resiliency. It scratches several itches at once, in places that may have been ignored for years, nay, millenia. While nothing here could be said to be entirely distinctive on its own, its 52 minute bearskin nuzzle imparts what poseurs haven't dared to dream, let alone live. It might be facile to attribute this authenticity to the bleak wintry cycle of far northern climes, but if the snowshoe fits....

Influences like PINK FLOYD are in evidence in the more plodding sections, but the sound is closer in spirit to bands like PROMETHEAN from Norway, especially on the almost vivacious "Revontulet" and the symphonic low wattage power ballad "Hallavedet". I suspect the band is also versed in local traditional folk. Smigeons of doom and metal lurk but without the growls and decibels, leaving an essence that few have distilled, and I hear echoes of early medieval tinged Goth a la "Tears" by STRAWBS or "When I was on Horseback" by STEELEYE SPAN. The last couple of tracks are more brocaded and unstructured, which might appeal more to some here but come across as a few ideas that turned into pumpkins even though such transformation was not stipulated in the original bargain.

I have listened to the subsequent TENHI albums and this ranks as one of their best, as it's a unified work that is adventurous, accessible, and infused with the sage melancholy of the elders.