AJATUKSIA MAAILMAN LAIDALTA

I was very eager to get this album to my hands after reading about it. A Finnish language prog album by a new promising band with a female singer! My expectations were high, but I'm not disappointed, even if it maybe wasn't the absolutely best thing I've heard lately. First I must say that labeling this as Prog Folk is not the whole story. It could at least almost pass as Symphonic Prog too, as it leans very faithfully on the 'classic' prog of the seventies. Here it tastes like CAMEL, there you get some JETHRO TULL (especially the opener), and even a RUSH-like fast instrumental part cuts through a peaceful track ('Ilmalaiva Italia'). Comparisons to RENAISSANCE and mOSTLY AUTUMN are also acceptable. The style of Neo Prog is present too. It all comes together very nicely. They sound fairly original despite all the associations to legendary bands.

The key members are two men who both play two different instruments (keyboards+drums/ guitars+flute) and compose most of the music. Unfortunately the lineup of Viima seems quite unsettled; changes have occurred before this debut and I've read that the singer Päivi Kylmänen has left the band. A pity: her voice may be a bit clumsy technically but it's autumnally fresh.

One can see already by looking at the track lengths (and that there's only six of them) that they really take their progressiveness seriously and put a lot of effort to their music. There's no weak track, each one has melodic and sonic richness that keep the listening experience fresh and exciting for many rounds, or so I hope at this point (2-3 listenings). And this is only their debut! I deeply wish that Viima grow to be a major act in Finnish prog scene. The lyrics are thoughtful and slightly naiive perhaps, but no complaining. If you want a non-English language prog album with finely crafted music in the melodic style of Camel and with a folkish touch à la Jethro Tull, this is what you've been waiting for.