RAISING THE SKELETONS OF FIRE BY HAND

This third album - according to their website - of Finnish act PPRY/Project is at times a really interesting escapade.

Their chosen style resides somewhere in between symphonic prog and space rock; with organ and synth layers as dominant elements of their excursions. Rather than dramatic and energetic they opt for a more dreamy approach; often with big soundscapes and rich textures rather than ambient and mellow excursions; and they do tend to mix their space-tinged explorations with themes and passages completely without these elements, resulting in music truly hard to place in terms of progressive rock categories.

The downside of this album are twofold - mix and production leaves a lot to be desired; and the vocal passages even more so. Thankfully the instrumental segments dominates the compositions at hand; and the one long segment where the vocal input does work - the last 8 minutes of the last track - is a stunning effort with grimly spoken words on top of a floating, fluctuating rich synth tapestry that is truly amazing.

Lots of talent and lots of promise here; and with better production and a decent vocalist this would have been a top notch creation.

This is a follow-up to the 2005 "PROJECT" album Name Stolen. A bit confusing band history really, and their debut - unfamiliar to me - is altogether missing here. Again, this oddly named album succeeds very well in sounding like obscure psych-oriented, PINK FLOYD influenced Krautrock from the 70's. Even more so this time, since the production is further from modern standards. A devoted Psych fan may take it as a positive thing, but I think the sound is a bit too blurred. The bigger difference concerns the vocals: whereas Name Stolen features both theatrical narration and cool-sounding vocal harmonies, this one's more instruentally oriented and the scarce vocals are strangely hazy, unfocused, colourless, nearly unmelodic as well.

The compositions are mostly lengthy and hurriless, not very melodic, concentrating on the pychedelic haze. Guitars and strong bass dominate, and Hammond hovers in the background, but occasionally a flute or a Moog make refreshing appearances. In that sense the highlights are the VdGG-spirited 'Procession Forms' with its flute parts and 'A Passage to the Court Prevails'. All in all, the 70-minute album feels too directionless for its own good.

The last tack is nearly 26 minutes in total, but in the middle there's a 2+ minute silence, followed by some sort of a hidden track. Actually I find it to be the most intriguing piece, in which a low-key voice of a train passenger half-whispers his dystopian story set in the future, backed by a ghostly synth soundscape. Sure, if you're deeply interested in the more obscure German bands of the 70's (the stuff re-issued on the Garden of Delights label), the Finnish PPRY may offer you an unexpected retro delight. To me however, Name Stolen works clearly better.