RIUTTA

Three of the four members play keyboards in addition to their primary instrument, but actually keys remain quite unnoticeable in the background, while the more or less distorted guitar dominates, though not at all too much. There's a slight Post-Rock feel and the rather melancholic atmosphere could be compared to bands such as PORCUPINE TREE and RADIOHEAD. The opener named by a river operates between edginess and dreamy softness - like the album in general. One must consciously concentrate on sparse lyrics - and be a speaker of Finnish language! - and notice the powerfu imagery ("I push you to the bottom") to fully sense the emotional depth, as the Steven Wilson -like frail vocals are very far from insistent sharpness.

The longest, 8-minute track 'Sykli' has a relatively extended instrumental passage with harmonium-sounding keyboards. 'Kahdeksan minuuttia' (= 8 Minutes) in which "the sun won't rise anymore" is my favourite song with its distinctive drum pattern and the guest appearance of female backing vocals. 'Lorenz' is an acoustically oriented, delicate little song. The vocal distortion in the final track sounds tiringly passé, but as a whole this album is a winner that grows on the listener.

Riutta have named e.g. TOOL, RADIOHEAD and KING CRIMSON as their influences. Expectedly the music is edgy, angular and slightly depressed, dominated by distorted guitars and a powerful rhythm section. The first three songs are heavily oriented towards this angry bleakness, and the unprofessional-sounding production with some clumsy arty-farty details (especially on the vocal treatment) doesn't always hit the target. The saxophone on the opener is not convincing at all.

The brief title track is dark but serene Ambient. It is followed by a highlight song 'Hashima', in which the sincere guitar played on high register and the pulsative flavour of Electronic/Ambient, together with some poetic images in the sparse lyrics, form an emotionally effective, interlude-like moment in the middle of the album. 'Kaupunki ennen talvea' would nicely continue in that direction, but the use of vocoder is quite irritating. Luckily the last three songs work better than the early tracks, especially on the emotional level.

One Finnish critic said that this strong material would have really needed a finishing touch of a visionary producer. Partly I totally agree, but on the other hand the result could have become more clinical and have lost its personality. The finest song is the last one, 'Etsijä' (=The seeker), in which the ambience, melancholia and Post-Rock flavoured ed´giness blend in perfect balance.