FINNFOREST

4.5 stars.This is a short record at just over 32 minutes, but man what an album ! The star of this recording is lead guitarist Pekka Tegelman, and his brother Jussi does a fantastic job on the drums, while Jukka Rissanen rounds out the trio on the organ.

"Mika Yo" opens with organ and gentle guitar, quite pastoral. Drums and a full sound arrive 1 1/2 minutes in and it really sounds great. It's actually a little dark with the guitar crying out. The background organ sounds just right. A calm 4 minutes in before it kicks back in to end it. What a start ! "Sanaton Laulu" opens again with organ with a full sound arriving a minute in. The organ and drums create the base while the guitar comes in playing over top. Beautiful sounding music. The tempo picks up 2 minutes in. More great guitar after 3 minutes as it settles back down to original melody. "Happea" shines after a minute when it kicks in with pounding drums and ripping guitar. It lightens up after 2 minutes with organ leading the way. Guitar is back to end it.

"Koin Siipesi" is a pastoral song, my least favourite but it's the shortest. "Paikalliset Tuulet" features some energetic guitar playing with drums, then the organ comes in. A drum solo 2 1/2 minutes in. The guitar returns with organ a minute later. "Aallon Vaihto" opens with a nice jazzy sound. Organ comes in and is more prominant before 1 1/2 minutes. Piano follows then the tempo picks up 2 1/2 minutes in. Guitar solo a minute later is restrained. "Kunnes" is fairly laid back for the first 2 minutes. Then the guitar comes in and the rest of the song is outstanding. The piano is beautiful after 3 minutes. "P.S." features outbusts of sound in this the final instrumental display on the album. The keys, drums and aggressive guitar recall MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA for me.

I just really like the mood that is set by these Finns, and the lead guitar and Hammond organ doesn't hurt either.