MYTHON

FROM GROTTO is an up and coming psychedelic rock band from Helsinki, Finland that has gained quite the reputation for their live settings where they utilize visual mirages to complement their interesting psychedelic guitar effects and high energy musical performances. MYTHON is their debut EP which came out in 2015 and consists of four tracks. This one has a more stripped down sound than their feature length eponymous debut album that came out in 2017. On this one there is a the usual rock instrumentation of Antti Pasonen on guitar, Riku Hy'tyl'inen on bass and Pekka Takalainen on drums. Joonas Turner handles the vocals and unlike the full-length debut this one does not contain the sultry sax and as many keyboards but comes across as a much rawer sound with heavy rock approach with some excursions into planet Lysergia.

This band has a sound all its own even on this first offering. The name FROM GROTTO comes from a single experience of exploring caves which ended up with tales of inspiration brewing into the night which would lead to the formation of the band as the caves were home to ancient dwellers who carried the inspiration through the ages. On MYTHON we are treated to four heavy and psychedelic tracks that feature both heavy guitar riffs as well as cool effects that make them echo and zigzag around like fireflies in a summer sky. The bassist is really strong here as he boldly sets himself apart from the guitar parts as the drums persistently pound away and successfully create their own realities somewhere in between the two string players.

Perhaps the strongest attribute of FROM GROTTO is the charismatic vocal domination of Joonas Turner who, like any excellent lead singer of a rock band, takes the bull by the horns and steers the listener into the midst of the powerful concoction of sound and poetic prose as he belts out one line after another. While the ambience isn't as strong as on their full album, there are segments of psychedelic ambience and atmospheric head trips to another world as heard on the intro of 'Slightly Rotten' which with a running time of over ten minutes constitutes one of the most psychedelic experiences of this brief EP. This is also my favorite track as it goes for the gusto in the psychedelic department and really lets loose a maelstrom of echoey feedback and instrumental freneticism. While not as good as the full-length debut, MYTHON is definitely a great listen and a worthy precursor to a unique band that continues to get better.