PRP

It's a pity I'm seemingly the only one here to review the releases of this Finnish two-man act. While I certainly realize the notable musical talent of Rami Turtiainen and Petteri Kurki, I can't help feeling that PRP's direction isn't very much up to my personal taste (whereas their earlier three-man group Grus Paridae was easier for me to enjoy). That said, I nevertheless consider this second PRP album to be an improvement over the debut some three years ago. At least this album doesn't feel disjointed. Instead it appears to be quite a coherent artistic entity. Sadly though I find it hard to really "get into", ie. to understand what it tries to say in the end. Cryptic track titles like 'Revelation of the Dark Agitbra' or 'Amortization of the Blazing Vitriol' do not help.

Turtiainen is credited responsible for composing and Kurki for arrangements. These multi-instrumentalists indeed do seamless cooperation. Even their vocals are tightly joined together in harmony. The sonic landscape in general is exciting and rich. It's like a peculiar mix of Porcupine Tree reminding hard and modern intensity and more acoustic nuances one can hear e.g. in Nursery Cryme era Genesis (12-strings?). But it must be said that the heavy-ish and at times hostile-sounding intensity with rather fast tempos is the dominant side of the mix.

Without a dedicated concentration from the listener the album is bound to feel rather restless and samey most of the time. My fave is without a question the final track 'Gallery' (which is also the longest piece) as it offers some kind of emotional relief and conclusion after the troubled waters, even though it doesn't entirely remain in calmness.

Despite not wholeheartedly warming to this album personally, I give a good rating for a high degree of originality and technical competence.

(Based on my review published on a Finnish site)

The letters PRP undoubtedly mean something like Petteri & Rami Project. Singing multi-instrumentalists Petteri Kurki and Rami Turtiainen form, together with another multi-instrumentalist, mainly violinist Jarno Koivunen, a group called Grus Paridae. In 2014 Grus Paridae released their debut single, and a couple of further singles have followed, such as the gorgeous, Floydian-sounding, 9-minute song 'Forthcoming Nonintellectual Decadence' in 2016. The single-oriented approach has earned Grus Paridae plenty of online radio play in several countries (we're talking of prog oriented radios).

Then Rami and Petteri realized that some of their new songs were "heavier and more psychedelic than the mellower and classically influenced direction that Grus Paridae had taken". Again, a new single was released, but with a new moniker, PRP. 'Rubber Hands / SunSon' (2017) even won the third place among hundreds of singles in the annual dj poll of the British Wigwam Online Radio. "This gave us courage to work out more material for PRP, and little by little a loose conceptual album entity was built around 'Rubber Hands'". In the already familiar habit, more singles follow too, but now it's time to evaluate an album.

The instrumental opening track delicately paints a melancholic mood, whereas 'Rubber Hands' that starts with a sharp scream and a noise of breaking glass is bass-dominating, psych-flavoured heavy prog à la PORCUPINE TREE. Sonically, this power duo has no Achilles heels. Both men handle guitars, synths, drums and percussion programming with technical ability, and also the vocals work fairly well. Guitar-oriented 'No' continues in the hard style with harsh lyrics. My favourite track 'Rubber Hands, Pt. II - Days' reminds me of NEKTAR, not least because of the vocals that sound like Roye Albrighton.

Instrumental 'It's Never Allways' (sic) brings some acoustic guitar freshness amidst the gloomy overall atmosphere. 'Rubber Hands, Pt. III - The Sea of Streets' IMHO goes too far in its hostile angst. Considering the single-oriented recording history of these guys, the crucial question is: how do they succeed in the form of an album? The rather short album surely has its merits, especially in the sound department. There are lots of dynamic variety, but the whole leaves a bit uncomfortable aftertaste to me. For example, the order of tracks that has placed the psychedelic 'SunSon' as a bonus track, is not the best possible.

Personally, I would have preferred to hear an album by Grus Paridae instead. Can't help feeling slightly frustrated by the complex artist process.