UTOPIA PERFECTION

Discordia is a totally new band to me, and must be for many others, too, since Utopia Perfection is their first album. But what a nice debut album the band has created! All the songs are very good which I find very rare these days. There are plenty of surprises throughout the 45 minutes or so. The music is rather tightly packed and the songs ain't long so you have a lot of things happening despite the strong sense of beautiful melodies. It feels like one has gone through some kind of a journey or a roller coaster trip after this most obviously very well planned piece of music. The band themselves talk about their music as 'polyrock'. It can be understood since there are so many kinds of elements and approaches to rock and prog on this album. It's funny how ones attempts to categorize the music seem to fail after each song. Sometimes I don't even know if they're serious, but it doesn't matter, since everything here is exhilarating and sheer musical fun!

Riikka Hanninen, the female vocalist, sounds a bit like Annie Haslam from Renaissance. Beautiful voice. Tero Vaananen, the male vocalist, is more a rock singer with a very dramatic and raw sound. Both singers play well together, and so does the whole band. The arrangements are excellent and the playing energetic and precise, though Discordia doesn't seem to concentrate too much on technical perfection in dream theaterian spirit.

The first song, Foreseen, is one of the best prog songs I've heard for some time. And so is Slave Planet II. Like stated before, all the songs are excellent but these two are outstanding in their conception.

A highly recommended album!

Irresistibly intriguing and full of surprises, Discordia's Utopia Perfection is truly a musical adventure. Once you get past the dodgy birdies on the cover. But who am I to call anyone dodgy?

Anyway, the album. It's brilliant! The songs are simultaneously as fascinating as the golden 70's era prog rock but still clearly contemporary. Or futuristic even, if you listen to the lyrics.

Discordia stays clear of the trap that many prog musicians have at least tripped over, if not fallen headfirst into. The music is the key here, not the finger exercises that strain many proggers' instruments and consequently their songs and their listeners' ears. Thank you, Discordia, for giving us actual organic art instead of clinical musical masturbation!

Considering that Utopia Perfection is the band's debut album, it's been put together and conceptualized extremely well. The songs are strong individuals that form an almost intact arch reaching from the sombre depths of the first track, Foreseen, to the Celtic fiddling of the closing track, Giant Dwarf.

It's also refreshing that the band don't take themselves too seriously. Their heavy metal parody Mighty Power of Metal is hilarious. Mind you, it manages to fit in with the theme of the album, instead of becoming a random joke.

The reason for getting four stars instead of five is track number two, Mystery Man. After listening to the album a billion times, it still seemed to belong on some other far more mediocre album. The song just isn't strong enough. You need to pick your battles, boys and girls, only Midas could turn everything to gold!

Apart from that slight excusable slip, listening to the album is sheer bliss. Special compliments to the composer-vocalist Tero Vaananen who together with guitarist Antti Tolki has put together some impressive works of musical art! And above these tunes hovers and soars the translucent, yet powerful voice of Riika Hanninen.

All in all, a splendid first outing for these six Finns. Hopefully there is more to come!

Standout tracks: Speak Directly with it's manic chorus, disturbingly extra-terrestrial Slave Planet I and it's majestic sequel Slave Planet II.

Now this album is very good! The only problem: it's too short! 43 minutes. Please make a longer record next time, it is over way too soon, especially as there is a huge variety in these short songs. On the other hand, this kind of approach to music makes people long for the next album. There is this lovely feeling of potential - there is still much to be said and done.

Standout tracks: As Above So Below, The Group.

Don’t be fooled by dark intro to “Foreseen” – this is not your typical Scandinavian Prog!

DISCORDIA can be described as Eclectic Prog – they fuse hundreds of genres and styles in their music, from reggae to heavy metal. On the other hand, they’d also fit into Crossover Prog or even Prog-Related: their songs are very accessible, short (the longest track is 6 min long! :) ) and devoid of usual Prog pathos and pretentiousness. It was “Mighty Power of Metal” track that have set a revelation on me – DISCORDIA is actually a Parody Prog! Dunno if musicians would agree with this label (ha, find me a musician that would agree with ANY label!), but it’s pretty true. The more I’ve been listening to DISCORDIA the more clear it was. ROXY MUSIC, SPLIT ENZ, PAVLOV’S DOG, even QUEEN, SUPERTRAMP and some Canterbury bands – these are the ones to be compared with Finnish guys’ MOOD, not the MUSIC. But I hope you’ll get the point ;)

In today’s Prog which is possessed with half-an-hour epics and lush pompous orchestrations DISCORDIA is a sanctuary for those who tired of such a frightening seriousness. Recommended, but beware – don’t expect here that much Prog you’ve used to!

This new Finnish formation is rooted in 2001, after several changes the current line-up was founded in 2006 and this year (2007) Discordia has released her debut CD entitled Utopia Perfection, it was send to me as a promo by the band, thanks!

Discordia makes adventurous and original music but although the 11 compositions (between 3 and 5 minutes) are melodic, the sound is not always accessible, you have to be up to the important role by the female singer Riikka Hänninen and male singer Tero Väänänen, they frequently colour the songs with their varied vocals, from thin to powerful. This album is layered with Riikka and Tero their vocals, in combination with the often fluent rhythms, propulsive guitar riffs and dynamic rhythm-section these vocals give an extra dimension to Discordia their unique sound. The band also use a wide range of insturments: bombastic organ in Foreseen, The Comment Of The Wise and Mighty Power Of Metal, synthesizers in Mystery Man, wailing violin and twanging acoustic guitar in As Above So Below, vibraphone and bass clarinet in Slave Planet II, propulsive guitar riffs and heavy drumming in The Group, Slave Planet I, The Comment Of The Wise and Mighty Power Of Metal and accordeon and tin-whistle in the final track Giant Dwarf. But not only the instrumentation varies, just enjoy the shifting moods and varied styles, from dreamy to bombastic and from folky or classical to symphonic rock or prog metal.

I am not sure or this adventurous and unique music will appeal to many progheads because it's far from mainstream prog but you can check out their website for MP3 files. A big hand for this new Finnish band that makes progressive rock in the true meaning of the word, my rating: 3,5 stars.

From Finland comes Discordia, a band that has offered a whole lot of effort and imagination in their very good debut album "Utopia Perfection". This album's most distinctive features are energy and melodic dynamics. I'm pretty much convinced that there's something stereotipically Scandinavian about their core sound, with certain similarities to late Landberk and "Signal to Noise"-era White Willow, but on the other hand, Discordia sets itself apart from the grey density of Anglagard and early Anekdoten, as well as the full frontal retro-feel of Wobbler. Discordia, despite its name, builds its core sound on the accordance of the various inputs of guitars, keyboards and occasional sundry instruments (clarinet, tin whistle), in both the calmer and the stronger passages. The female vocals may remind you of Evanescence a bit, but the sung lines (both male and female) are closer to Gabriel-era Genesis or VdGG. At times, Hänninen and Väänänen turn their throats into the realms of pastoral music and folk (Celtic, Eastern European). The album kicks off with colorful vocal interplaying soon joined by powerful guitar riffs and convenient organ flourishes - 'Foreseen' flaunts a series of effective chord progressions, delivered enthusiastically on a not too fast tempo. Tempo is really fast in 'Mystery Man', whose hooks bear a near-pop-rock feel, but still contains some progressive tricks as rhythm shifts and delicately elaborated mood changes. 'Speak Directly' is one of my personal favorite songs here, with the clever use of santur among the guitar phrases and leads: this song sounds like a marriage of 75-77 VdGG, Hoyry-Kone and Landberk. 'As Above So Below' uses folkish airs in its playful ¾ tempo: the violin melodies enhance the folkish factor properly, and so do the guitar leads, while the vocal arrangements provide a somewhat eerie ambience to the main motif. 'The Group' brings back teh spirit of track 2, albeit with a rockier attitude and a more intrincate structure (although never overtly complex). The addition of certain Celtic tones helps the track to become interestingly varied in its own scheme. 'Interlude' highlights the drummer's position in the instrumentation, with the chorale guiding the way for the emergence of dialogues between guitar, keyboard and bass. The first 'Slave Planet' continues in the semi-tribal vein of the previous track, while the second 'Slave Planet' shifts into an intimate plain of melancholic thoughts. The latter gets a very interesting prelude with its textures on vibes and bass clarinet: the main motif arrives and turns things really emotional. This is another definite highlight of the album, a good example of diversity moderately construed upon a solid foundation of cohesion. 'The Comment of the Wise' is a powerful instrumental in which the band sounds (to my ears) as a mixture of heavy prog and "Storm Signal"-era White Willow, while 'Mighty Power of Metal' sets a weird yet attractive combination of pop-rock, Celtic stuff and heavy prog. The albums is closed down by 'Giant Dwarf', a song that finds the band exploring once again the Celtic thing, only with a pronounced ingenuity, as if they were trying to bid their farewell with an air of candidness. "Utopia Perfection" is an excellent progressive record, with material good enough to make us aware of Discordia as a band that will continue to bring us good music in the future.

The big man of the band is Tero Väänänen. He signs (or co-signs) no less than eight songs leaving only three songs to the duo Tolki and Kauhanen ("Mystery Man", "As Above So Below" and "Giant Dwarf"). He also contacted me a few months ago and volunteered to send me a copy of their work if I would like to review their album on PA. I received in my mail a few weeks ago and I promised to review it between X'mas and New Year. And since a promise is a promise, here is my review.

Foreseen has the dark, scary and mighty style of Crimson. But also switches to naïve female vocals (almost sounding like Far- Eastern ones - from Japan noticeably).

The power and dynamics of "Mystery Man" brings us in a different environment. If there was one track that could have have been released as a single, it would have been this one. The beat is so great, the vocal parts so polished (but that's a definite characteristics of "Discordia"). The melodic lines are really performing and catchy. One of my fave from this album even if it sounds a bit popish (but very good one). Same comments for Speak Directly.

The music they are playing is so diversified that it is frankly difficult to categorize, but it always remains of great quality and so proggy. You'll need to give it a few spins (as I have done for the last ten days) to fully capture the magic of their compositions.

The use of some less used instruments like clarinet, violin, santur (which is mostly used in the Middle-East) adds a special touch which is very much welcome. The violin is best appreciate during "As Above So Below".

I think that the best song in terms of vocal arrangements is "The Group". In less than four minutes, so many different themes will be approached. At times, it reminds me of "Gentle Giant".

All tracks aren't "perfect". "Interlude" for instance is somewhat weak but while you listen to "Slave Planet I", lots of folkish influences are to be noticed. Very pleasant and unexpected. The final part is a pure marvel. A highlight. Its follow-up : "Slave Planet II" is not so strong but shows the same folk inspiration.

"The Comment Of The Wise" is a short instrumental fully reminiscent of VDGG. At times noisy, it completely breaks the tranquil mood of "Slave Planet II". Interesting.

I could not imagine a better title for "Mighty Power Of Metal". It is a superb and indeed mighty song related with prog metal. It is my favourite track of the whole album. Lyrics are quite warrior oriented (like the ones from "The Knife").

"Who you're fighting for, the Emperor, the orcist hord or some other freak". "Mighty power of metal, fighting forever for Kings. Mighty power of metal, for all the glory it brings".

The album ends on another prog-folk song. As during the whole of this album, superb vocals are again performed. It is true to say that there aren't long pieces of music here, nor lots of instrumental breaks. That' s maybe one of the negative point, but there are so many positive ones that it can be easily overcome.

The band definitely deserves your attention and I hope that they will get more exposure not only on PA but throughout the prog community. Check it out and support them!

This album is short (but I prefer short and effective than long and dull), very well balanced, and vocal harmonies are superb.

Seven out of ten, upgraded to four stars for their nice treat.

A progressive cafeteria.

Just like your high school cafeteria, Discordia is offering something for everyone...but don't ask for large portions.

What I mean is: that album has lots and lots of stuff in tiny quantities, so they're changing styles quite often in Utopia Perfection (sometimes in the same song!). And that's the spirit of progressive rock, right? If it's right, this album is some of most progressive material I've heard since...well...ever I think.

Take a song like Foreseen for example: a blend of Norweigan Folk, Anekdoten prog and Gentle Giant (Glass House period) that tooked me a lot of repeating to finally appreciate. I mean, the songs are very elaborated, sometimes vocally silly and the whole plot is often hard to grab. Overall, they kinda target the foggy side of Scandinavian music, but with a major headache due to severe efforts of concentration.

A record that will definitely test your degree of patience and that will answer THE question: 'Are you really open minded?'

Probably a winner for 'Blacksheep of 2007'.

What is This?

That was my first reaction when I saw the CD cover artwork. It's because the cover did not seem to be prog at all and it looked like child music album because the cover tells a mixture of everything with chicken-like cartoons. So confusing. So is the music when the first time I spun the CD - I was so confused about the music they play because I could not decide directly under what kind of box I should label this kind of music? For sure, it's not a progressive metal vein even though I find the heavy component of the music. But there is basically no guitar riffs at all - how can you say it's a metal music if there seems like no riff? So .. I dunno how to categorize the music of Discordia. One thing for sure, the music is unique and can be considered as original. Is it? Try it yourself!

First of all, before you try this at home, please make sure that you enjoy the disc alone - do not let anyone else with you in your listening room. Why and who am I that rule your life? No, I just want to be honest with you that the music is WEIRD and I don't want your opinion being out-ruled by your spouse or your friend due to the weirdness of the music the disc offers you. Believe me on this, please. Just let your own mind evaluate the stream of weird music this band from Finnish blows you with surprising music! Make sure also that you will turn your amplifier volume LOUD to get great subtleties of the music you are listening to. Are you ready? Let's go man.!

"Foreseen" (4:24) starts wonderfully with a-capella that (in a way) reminds me to Gentle Giant, but actually it's not at all. It's a great a capella, I tell you! At first you might say it's nothing special - but the more you repeat this song, you would agree with me. When the blast of music enters, you will find strange kind of music in upbeat tempo but the melody and arrangements are quite weird and probably you have never heard this kind of music. The music flows in varied styles with tight bass lines (you can hear clearly if you play it loudly). Oh ya .. I almost forget that the singing style is also weird, but I like it. Through the music, organ soars aggressively.

"Mystery Man" (3:47) is probably not quite weird musically as this is basically like an upbeat music with fast tempo in "happy" mood. What so interesting is the organ work at the opening that reminds me to Mathew Fischer of Procol Harum but in totally different vein of music. Again, the singing style is very unique. "Speak Directly" (4:29) is my favorite. It starts with simple guitar fills followed by dynamic and tight bass guitar lines and then drum. The music is quite unique but the more you spin it you will enjoy it really much. I like the energy and drive of the music. In some segment I find a coincident similarity with Steve Hackett's music even though the total music is completely different. It's really an excellent and original music!

"As Above So Below" (4:51) starts mellow with nice violin / cello work followed with low register notes vocal work. It's a cool opening. The vocal follows in great choirs while guitar and violin accompany the music. I remember Swedish band ACT even though it's not the same at all. It's another favorite of mine. Speaking from my heart, this is a very nice and catchy track in a unique composition. I truly admire the band for creating such a nice music like this one. Please discount my statement due to the fact that I love violin being included in prog rock, so you can understand why I love this track. The female vocal line also sings differently than typical music melody. Combined with male vocal of Tero it becomes something close with Gentle Giant, although it's so far away different.

"The Group" (3:58) starts with melodic vocal line followed with upbeat music in unusual arrangement but it's good. "Interlude" (4:40) starts with repetitive drum followed by bass guitar and later by guitar riffs. Organ follows later and the song moves with female vocal in the vein that reminds me to the music of Cirque Du Soleil (uhm .. this band should be featured here in this site because the music of the circus from Canada is truly prog to the bone!). Even though this song is mostly repetitive in nature but it sounds something new and I have never heard this kind of music before. "Slave Planet" comprises two parts with the first one is an upbeat music with unique (you might call it "weird") arrangements and when it continues with part II it starts dark and mellow with tin whistle (or sax?) work followed with excellent choirs in acapella mode.

You might be wondering what "Mighty Power Of Metal" (3:39) as I do. And this is again .. it's a unique and brilliant kind of music and it's different than any kind of metal or rock music you have imagined before, I believe. I can only describe that the music is in a way has some pieces which is "riffs-based" but there are pieces with song orientated focus. The combined work of guitar and keyboard is quite interesting to observe. It sounds that the band is trying to perform this song in humorous way. The album concludes nicely with "Giant Dwarf" (4:00).

Conclusion

Overall, I bet you that if you spin the CD for the first time, you might tend to "reject" this CD and you might ask yourself "What is this?". But .. bear with me my friend .. please give some room for your patience to spin some more 5 or even 10 spins with medium volume first (do not play it loud because the music is weird - I tell you!). Once you get used to it, play it loud and try first with track 3 "Speak Directly". If it still does not blow your mind, forget it, just throw away the CD. But .. that's not the case with me. I love the music of this band, man! I salute the band for this. Thank you to Petri Sallinen who sent me this CD, I really appreciate it. My big apology for not to write the review right away because I need sometime to appreciate your music. This is too difficult for me to digest at first five spins. But after that, JRENG! I do enjoy it very much! It's an excellent addition to any prog music collection.

The music of Discordia is ORIGINAL!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

3.5 stars.This was so much fun, the kind of music to play on a sunny day. As the name of the band suggests these guys blend different styles of music together, and the male and female vocals are excellent. I was reminded of ECHOLYN at times, 80's pop, Celtic, Metal and on and on. It's dark and bright, funny and serious, heavy and light, these guys are all over the place. Eclectic is the perfect genre for them to be in that's for sure.

"Foreseen" opens with sombre male and female vocals. As they keep repeating the word "foreseen" guitar then a full sound comes in. They both sing as organ and drums stand out. "Mystery Man" has this nice uptempo melody. This is fun as drums and organ again lead the way. Aggressive female vocals come in. Male vocals follow as they take turns. I like this one. "Speak Directly" is perhaps my favourite track. It sounds so good instrumentally. The male / female vocals on the chorus shine. "As Above So Below" opens with a guitar / violin melody. Reserved male vocals come in. It's a very nice sound.Female vocals take over as melody continues. Another great sounding tune.

"The Group" opens with male / female vocals as the piano plays. A catchy melody takes over. The female vocals are fantastic 1 1/2 minutes in and after 3 1/2 minutes. There is a bit of heaviness to this one at times. "Interlude" opens with drums that build as bass then heavy guitar join in. Organ then female vocal melodies. Clarinet after 3 minutes. "Slave Planet I" features those beautiful female vocals. Male vocals come and go. "Slave Planet II" opens with clarinet as reserved female vocals follow. The sound gets fuller when the drums arrive 2 minutes in. Great sound when it becomes more passionate 5 minutes in. "The Comment Of The Wise" is a dark and heavy instrumental. Nice. "Mighty Power Of Metal" reminds me of BLIND GUARDIAN at times when the drums lead the way with the aggressive male vocals. "Giant Dwarf" has a Celtic flavour to it. Again I love her vocals, I can't help but smile. Accordion before 2 minutes.

There is so much to like on this recording, and if your into a lot of variety you should check this out.

Utopia Perfection is the debut album from Finland´s Discordia. A true eclectic prog rock band. This was a chance buy for me as I had never heard of the band before.

The music is as mentioned very eclectic drawing influences from many genres. I hear both pop, metal, symphonic prog, heavy prog, rock and jazz in their music. The most dominant feature in Discordia´s music is the use of both a male and a female vocalist. I don´t know much about finish names but I assume that Riikka Hänninen is a female and Tero Väänänen is a male ? The two vocalists compliment each other very well and the music is rather memorable and melodic. I know this sounds weird but I can´t help thinking about B-52s when I listen to Discordia. Maybe that´s just me, but there is an undenyable feel good vibe in Discordia´s music that is also very present in the music from B-52s and Tero Väänänen has a similar voice to that of Fred Schneider. I´ll have to mention here that the female vocals from Riikka Hänninen does not remind me of Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson. She is more in the vein of Kate Bush ( not as talented of course but still good).

The music is enhanced by the use of keyboards, violin and bass clarinet in addtion to drums, guitar and bass and the melodic approach is generally very enjoyable.

The musicianship is good and the production is professional and clean.

Utopia Perfection is a good eclectic progressive rock album and if you enjoy great interplay between female and male vocals this will be a treat. It fails to reach excellent in my book though and for me this is a 3 star album. This is the kind of album I´ll listen to on occasion and then forget about until I someday see it on my shelf. That doesn´t mean that it isn´t good, this is just the kind of music that I don´t listen to very often.

Intresting is the word every time I hear this album. Utopia perfection from 2007 is the debute album of finish band Discordia. Man, this was a real ride for me this album, here we have everything from eclectic moments, jazzy parts, avant prog most of the time, even some prog metal arrangements on one piece. I like the combination of femal/male voice on this release Riikka and Tero done a good job, very nice aswell as single voices. The passages are to me most of the time as I said before avant prog , maybe the eclectic side of avant, evey tune is a joy to listen, fun and of course with good musiciansgip all over. The melted styles one into other from this album for sure are intresting and definetly winner in my book, but I can't say it that this is really great or essential, is ok well played and all but overall not groundbreaking I must say, still pleasent most of the time. Forte tracks to me are Speak directly, the I and II parts from Slave planet and Mighty Power Of Metal reminds of that '80's metal bands having a great chorus. All in all intristing album, funy cover art aswell, but by no means essential. 3 stars

Discordia is a Finnish sextet that have made just this sole album (plus a couple of EP's). Sadly so, because they show a lot of potential as possible masters of energetic, U.S. style eclectic prog. The powerful playing is firmly on the shoulders of the basic combo (g, keyb, b, dr) and is further coloured by slight additions of violin, bass clarinet and tin whistle. An essential feature are the often multi- layered vocals sung by both sexes.

In the Finnish prog history, I would see the 90's hard-rocking group FIVE FIFTEEN - not in the Archives - as an encouraging influence perhaps, as well as several, mainly American modern prog bands that have continued in the eclectic path that GENTLE GIANT once started. Although the vocal harmonies are very effective at their best and there's a lot of playful wittiness, there isn't really a direct GG influence, I guess; no extraordinary stylistic width from old music to jazz etc. In fact, during the album, especially on the latter half, I get a bit tired of the almost hyperactive art rock energy.

The first half is quite impressive. Very eclectic 'Foreseen' opens the album powerfully - with a nice fantasy element in the lyrics: "And none but the fairies and unicorns will last / faunes and dryads, / hippogryohs and gryphons, / wandering free". 'Mystery Man' rocks harder and offers great guitar sounds. I don't know what is the kantele-reminding isntrument in 'Speak Directly', but it sounds good. 'As Above So Below' is also a highlight in its more emotional atmosphere.

If the whole album felt as fresh and charming as the highlights, instead of getting tiresome at some point, Utopia Perfection would surely be among the most interesting Finnish prog albums of this Millennium. I'd be happy to see a new album by them, but I have no idea if the group even exists anymore.

Yet another band, which wanted to add its fresh ideas into the mix of modern bands.Discordia hail from Helsinki, Finland and were found in 2001 with influences coming from the music of Gentle Giant, Porcupine Tree, Rush, Marillion and other Prog/Rock monsters.They introduced themselves in 2005 with the 3-track EP ''On a thin rope'' and two years later their full-length debut ''Utopia perfection'' sees the light as a self-released album.The line-up at the time was Riikka Hanninen on vocals/tin whistle, Tero Vaananen on vocals/bass clarinet, Liisa Lipas on keyboards/santur/violin, Antti Tolkki on guitar, Petri Sallinen on bass and Otto Makela on drums.

The union of the past and contemporary Prog sounds are displayed in this album, which mixes the power of heavy, electric guitars and the clean, modern productions with the old-school organ showering and the unique complexity of GENTLE GIANT and RUSH.Their sound seems to rely much on long and dynamic rhythmic patterns and the constant presence of male/female voices with the organ and the electric guitar explosions being the dominant instruments.Their approach is similar to Swedish group A.C.T., although there are no particular Queen or Dream Theater influences in here, but there are plenty of close crossroads: The theatrical mono- and multi-vocal parts, the tendency towards energetic, guitar-led runs, the discreet use of strings and the evident influences from 70's Prog.On the other hand Discordia lack the superb breaks and twists of their Swedish neighbours plus there are no Neo-Classical or symphonic themes to be found.Discordia run more towards Heavy Rock with lots of theatrical and some operatic elements thrown in and occasional blinks to complicated themes and the Retro Prog stylings.No standouts, the tracks are all nice, passionate and well-executed with the female voices being the absolute highlight and the tapping grooves leading the way.

Prog/Art Rock with a heavier edge and some Pop sensibilities.Played with energy and offered in11 short tracks with a bombastic sound.A cool and definitely recommended album.