III TRI-LOGY

I guess Petri Walli was going for a philosophical concept album here. On the one hand, this gives the album the feel of a very complete and unified work that flows really well, but on the other hand it makes it a bit samey, it took me several listens before I could easily tell all the songs from one another. Pretty much all the songs are synth-laden rock with a bunch of overdubbed electric guitars with all sorts of effects. The exceptions that to me stand out the most though are Time and Welcome to the Mirrorland. I think the latter has the only small acoustic guitar part on the album, and it focuses very much on the didgeridoo, jew harp and some tribal drumming. Speaking of the didgeridoo and jew harp, they're featured quite a lot on the album, which is great for me, it reminds me of Goa trance.

Petri's guitar chops seem to have actually improved since their second album, many of his riffs and solos are just breathtaking. I'm the King I'm the Sun and Time are probably my favorite songs here. Another highlight for me is Stuldt Hajt, which is the closest they get to Goa trance. But really pretty much any time Petri touches the guitar is a highlight. Can't fault any of the other musicians either, very impressive drumming and bass guitar, not to mention the sax on The Real Thing. One slight downside is that in my opinion some of the songs suffer from being perhaps necessary for the concept but not adding too much musically, especially Alt-Land-Is.

Not as diverse and consistent as KWII, but perhaps has even higher highs. I really love it, but I wouldn't call it essential, so four stars.