MYRSKYN KESKELLÄ

Last year I reviewed, sadly still as the only one here, the eponymous debut album from this Finnish group. As they informed us already in the band bio, the line-up has turned into a sextet with the arrival of the second guitarist Antti Tuominen. He really seems to be a perfect addition to the group chemistry, as he also participates in song- writing and singing, plus plays some upright piano and synths too.

In hindsight I perhaps was a bit too generous with my four stars for the debut. "None of the six songs is notably different from each other. Instead of clearly having different things such as big epics vs. short ones, emotionally oriented melodic pieces vs. tight prog energy, all- instrumentals vs. vocal songs, etc., these features are well stirred on all tracks", I wrote back then, and upon recent listenings I still feel that way. Now I'm glad to say this second album is a clear improvement as an artistic whole. Indeed there are more notable differences between compositions this time.

Vesilinja plays shamelessly retro, early 70's style progressive rock as if the 80's, 90's etc. never happened at all. As primary musical references one could take the vintage Finnish prog acts such as HAIKARA and TASAVALLAN PRESIDENTTI who likewise had a saxophonist, or TABULA RASA who had a flautist. On the band bio they also mention several international prog legends as their influences, but the one I especially found myself thinking of, in a happy way, is VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR around 1969-70, concerning the sound (not the extremities in the passionate expression of Peter Hammill & Co). But let's deal with all the seven tracks individually.

'Rantaviiva' (= Shoreline) is a short instrumental opener with an emphasis on acoustic guitar and synthesizers. Perhaps some PFM spirit can be heard. 'Kyyhky' (= Dove) is an uptempo, jazzy prog rocker with rhythmic complexity. The band sound is pretty full with lively saxophone, organ and guitar, and the refreshing flute solo is a nod to JETHRO TULL. This piece the most reminds me of the debut.

The 9-minute 'Horisontti' is one of the two longest tracks here, and what a strong and impressive prog piece it is. The Hammond and saxophone give me those associations of the Least We Can Do / H to He era VdGG. The main song-writing and vocals are by the new guy Antti. His voice is a bit commonplace the same way as Aake's and Topias', but this is not a blame. Both the instrumental sections and vocal parts combine power and delicacy, making this piece both very dynamic and full of emotion. The vinyl's A side ends with 'Syysilta, kevätaamu' (= Autumn Evening, Spring Morning), the only song sung here with the lead vocals of saxophonist Topias Ahola. I like the melancholic melodies of this song slightly reminiscent of Tabula Rasa.

'Aikalainen' is the shortest and most light-hearted of the vocal songs, and not strictly progressive in structure, but hey, this diversity is exactly what I was missing from the debut. A nice, positive song that sounds equally retro as the rest of the album. 'Totuuden torvet' is a fast-paced prog rock song with lots of saxophone, comparable to Tasavallan Presidentti and Haikara. The lengthy title track (12:30) is, in a familiar Vesilinja way, a highly dynamic piece with both serenity and powerful playing. As a whole this album is a great and in all its dynamics very balanced work of Finnish-language retro prog.

P.S. This actually could be my first time ever that I'm reviewing a new album on its official date of release!