DUST

Dust is the latest studio album by Lauri Porra, Finnish bassist and composer. Since this he has scored one of the best-loved Finnish films of recent times, Myrskyluodon Maija. Flyover Ensemble features guitarist Mikko Kosonen, Aki Rissanen on keyboards, Juho Viljanen on trombone (!) and percussion, and drummer Ville Pynssi. Porra has done also programming. The album is rather brief, roughly 38 minutes, but somehow it feels much bigger in scope. The six tracks take the listener to a journey across unexpected territories.

'Soothsayer' (8:43) starts excitingly with a pulsative synth, and soon the loud guitar and intensive rhythm section steer us to heavy metal oriented fusion. In the middle, and again near the end, there's a kind of a synthesizer oriented oasis, or rather, an eye in the storm that maintains the tension high. Porra has background as a metal bassist, and I think never before this side of his musicianship has stood out so clearly in his fusionesque solo albums.

'Abeyance' is a moody, soft, calm and spatial piece centered on the bass. The atmosphere is like from Manfred Eicher's ECM production. The 9-minute title track begins slowly in a cinematic way, sounding very orchestral - but the album does contain "additional orchestration by Vili Robert Ollila, Sampo Kasurinen, Artturi Rönkä"'. The composition grows in a symphonic manner comparable to Pekka Pohjola, but the soundscape is pure Porra with some heaviness of the opening piece.

'Matter' has a pulse that seems to be accelerating all the time despite the strings/synth carpet maintaining its calmness. This dichotomy creates a strange, fascinating atmosphere. 'Intravenous' lets a floating daydream serenity take over from the calm-before-the-storm tension. In the end the synths that have a slight Tangerine Dream vibe seem to imitate Baroque harpsichord.

'Phase II' is the most synth & programming oriented piece and it has a celestial, magical atmosphere not very far from the 70's Vangelis. This album has amazing dynamics and highly personal way of juxtaposing things not usually being tied together. A definite grower.