THE TREE OF LIFE

ORNE were a Finnish band whose two albums were released through the Italian Black Widow Records, and the guitarist-composer Kimi Kärki had formerly played doom metal in a band called Reverend Bizarre. So it comes as no surprise that Orne's music is pretty dark and melancholic. It also has a strong retro feel with some resemblance to the early 70's output of classic prog such as Van Der Graaf Generator, Genesis, King Crimson and Pink Floyd. At the same time Orne's style is truly personal and they never sound exactly like any of the bands mentioned. The instrumentation features Hammond, Mellotron, Rhodes piano, both acoustic and electric guitars, flute and saxophone. The vocalist Sami Albert Hynninen may have technically a bit uncertain voice but it's full of emotion and guts, which is why one may come to think of Peter Hammill. The voice fits very well to the dark music even though I'm not fond of some hard rock mannerism in it.

This second and sadly final album The Tree of Life was recorded between July 2008 and June 2010. It consists of seven tracks with various lengths up to 12+ minutes. All are quite powerful and atmospheric, but the longest one, 'The Temple of the Worm', deserves to be mentioned especially. It has a delicious and delicate instrumental section sounding like the Nursery Cryme -era Genesis, and the song is completed with the mighty roar of Hammond and a passionate electric guitar solo.

In the acoustically oriented first half of 'Beloved Dead' the tender vocals do sound a bit like Peter Hammill before getting into rougher hard rock territory. The closing track 'Sephira' has some VDGG- reminding saxes but it's slightly marred by cocky vocals and a melodramatic speech part (as is the opener too). Further listenings make me more aware of the negative sides, mostly dealing with the vocals, but despite some weaknesses I'd like to rate this emotionally strong album with four stars. The beautiful cover art is a Biblical painting by John Roddam Spencer Stanhope (1887), such a perfect choice!