ITERUM NATA

As usual for Heikkinen, this is a solid dark folk effort, though perhaps not quite as consistent as the debut or as focused as the ones that followed. Still, lively numbers like "The Principal of Rhythm" with its fitting bottom end and vintage sounding synths, and "Invocation", like old school DEAD CAN DANCE, lead the way, and the closing instrumental is dense and hearty. "Sacrificial Light" sounds like it is graced by a guest female vocalist but no such credit is offered. "Solve and Coagula" inserts a lively medieval instrumental passage of the type that ITERUM NATA has not seen to emulate before or since. I want to just say it's out of place but honestly I would like these type of interludes even if they are squeezed out of a fissure in a death metal incantation.

I wouldn't start here with your exploration of this project but I wouldn't avoid either. It would seem that the subsequent involvement with HEXVESSEL was fortuitous for Heikkinen in transitioning to a more pastoral empirical phase.

As before, several monumental tracks anchor the work, here the hypnotic instrumental "The Feather" (reminiscent of fellow Nords NORDAGUST), the anthemic "Forgotten Friends" and the TENHI on uppers "The Mountain" (though PROMETHEAN also comes to mind), which stands out for its percussion and uptempo if hardly blissful mood. Even the somewhat predictable course of "Bones in the Forest" is offset by the chill it invokes. "Losing Connection" empathetically speaks to the sorrow of the disappearing magic in any bond between two people or within a group. As the album winds down, the cloud is lifted somewhat, with a sense of optimism prevailing in both the words and music, not that the rest is depressing to me, as the protagonist faces his ennui head on throughout.

I think I am slightly partial to "The Trench of Loneliness" over prior works of ITERUM NATA as its themes and playing resonate more with my own experience. It's also Hiekkinen's meatiest release, being almost the length of a 1975 LP, offering scope for both losing and finding oneself again.

While Heikkinen can control pretty much everything we hear, he doesn't dictate how we hear it, and, while the meditative aspect remains, this is by far his most aggressive undertaking of the 4 currently available. The near metallic riffs in the outro to "Thee" and "Sydan" are stirring in new exhilarating ways for ITERUM NATA. This renders the ballads, like "Worry" and "Thee End", all the more mystical, the hypnotic strums conveying a ponderousness and the sort of profound reflection that is normally only attainable through disembodiment. The quasi title track and its patient unravelling is more than reminiscent of some of DAVID SYLVIAN's generous collaborations with ROBERT FRIPP until it goes all post rock on us to stunning effect. Several numbers including the closer are riddled with Gilmour esque leads which, while noteworthy at a certain level, seem of a more forced intensity.

Another coherent collection by this already prolific "new" artist, "Bardo Disorder" speaks to transitions from the mundane to the spectacular in a devotional manner. At this early stage this has already become already something of a calling card that helps us prepare for and look forward to what's next.

Quality is emphasized over quantity here, neo proggers take note, but my first complaint is, while such is a noble goal, this is rather seriously lacking in quantity. At best an EP length, 2 of the albeit loveliest melodies are repeated as a main themes of the first and second tracks again in the final 2 tracks, but oh my, lovely they are, and it is! A fold-in of post rock. folk, minimalist and even a smattering of good old fashioned spiritual country with subtle as far flung references as FLOYD (throughout), STRAWBS (same, but particularly on "The Tree", which is reminiscent of "I'll Carry on Beside You"), TENHI ("Touch the Sun"), and HEXVESSEL ("Become the Sun"). The lyrics are based on hypnotic repetition of seemingly simple motifs that reverently suggest that an understanding of their occult meanings just might invoke essential deliverance from this realm. "Wake up Wake up, you are nothing at all" wafts into the ear like a mantra you actually want to remember. The multitracked harmonies, even when partly spoken, are almost embarrassingly, achingly lucid.

Needless to say I am rather taken with this initial offering and, with my only brief association with ITERUM NATA, I think it ranks as one of the 2 strongest of the 4 available. I don't readily grant 5 stars until something has sat with me for a time and infused me with a slow burn, after which time I will quietly remove what I just wrote. In the meantime, don't wait on this chance to reconnect with that childlike musical spirituality that, if you are like me, may have been dormant for a spell.

'My Name Is Sorrow' announces the musical color; dark, majestic, an air of Ghost at the start, of the Bal des Laze; an intimate melody with acoustic guitar and synth in the distance reminiscent of Solefald or Solstafir. 'One with the Sun' more folkloric with a warm, hypnotic keyboard. 'Forgotten Friends' in facsimile, dark, catchy; enlightened darkness and desperate solo. 'Bones in the Forest' reminds me of a King Crimson title through the vintage organ; delicate air of acoustic guitar, folk that spreads a feeling of morbid loneliness. 'The Feather' brings this more progressive with an instrumental worthy of a soundtrack like Final Fantasy or Silent Hill, icy, dreamlike; Crystalline piano then majestic synth with a post-rock barrier and a lugubrious guitar solo.

'The Mountain' pop rock à la Sniff'n'The Tears and the gothic punky-rock of the New Model Army; the tribal drums and the distant voice on a proven folk tune and the guitar solo. 'Losing Connection' more symphonic, end-of-the- world spatial dark; the hit of the album; Ayreon for the vibrant synth and religiously flowing text. 'I Only Sing with the Dead' nursery rhyme à la Leonard Cohen it is said; good for singing with death who else? Black country guitar sound and eerie tune with that vivacious synth; solo by an alien zombie. 'I'd Rather Be a Fool Than a King' on a Scandinavian bar rhyme; about a tired Pogues reminiscing about his past life. 'Comedy of Humanity' sends me back to The Phantom of the Paradise with invigorating choruses; solemn air that denotes the album, a message to keep hope?

Iterum Nata has concocted an album mixing folk nostalgia of yesteryear and its post rock cinematic of today, a delicious paradigm filled with monotony and fleeting enlightenment; to heal from today's society, nothing better than to confront the harsh, dark and inventive musical reality, esoteric or not.

This music is generally very gloomy and melancholic neo/psych/dark folk. The opening song 'My Name Is Sorrow' sets the tone for the most of the other pieces to follow. The arrangements are rooted on acoustic guitar and ghostly hovering synths. For starters, think of the late sixties Pink Floyd song 'Julia Dream'. The vocals however come closer to e.g. Nick Cave. Another modern day artist used as a reference is the American psych folk band Espers, but in comparison Iterum Nata is, fairly understandably as a one-man effort, sonically narrower.

The tempo is mostly kept rather slow. For the overall mood the album tends to appear as a bit monotonous and tiresome in a casual listening, but the closer you listen to it, the more you notice how melodic it is in the end, and that several songs do have their own personal charm. Perhaps the first four songs or so, none of them bad per se, are most alike in their dark and melancholic "dwelling in solitude" nature. 'The Feather' sticks positively out as an instrumental with a Post-Rock flavour. 'The Mountain' has a faster tempo and a more vital musical performance, including nice percussion.

'Losing Connection', despite continuing the general gloominess, somehow sounds more empowering than the first third of the album, and the slightly country-ish 'I Only Sing With the Dead' even seems to have a tongue-in-cheek attitude, as if the artist looks into his morbid themes with a light-hearted irony. I'm thinking of the Finnish cult band Leningrad Cowboys. The biggest surprise comes in the end: 'Comedy of Humanity' is a relaxed, melodic poprock anthem that makes me think of Traveling Wilburys (Lynne, Orbison etc), and also the arrangement is much wider and more dynamic than on the album in general. This song really stays in your mind afterwards, whether a good or a bad thing. Heikkinen could have attempted to reach more of this variety in moods, and undoubtedly collaborating with fellow musicians or producers would have done good. Solid three stars earned nevertheless.