SECRET YOUTH

Long story short, Secret youth is nothing but a new and excellent album of a relatively unknown (or shall I say underestimated) Finnish band, deserving a very strong four-star-rating for its overly simple but still more than catchy and likeable ideas. No, there is nothing on this album that you have not heard before, still, it works by delivering on a simple premise: it is not aiming any higher than taking a few progriffs, making them light in construction but heavy in how dark they get, and then spotlessly builds up its 5-minute-long songs around them. To this you might want to add a pinch of excellent bass work (which really stands out from all the other instruments on this album), decent drum work and good vocals, backed up by the occasional throat singing (much less though than on previous albums), ending in songs that are ready to blow away anyone looking for a light Cult of luna, a more pop-sounding Pelican, etc. Truth to be told though, the album might be a letdown to those who fell in love with the band primarily for Noir's brutal, sludgy heaviness or the unconventional rock instruments of Providence, as these are something that Secret youth delibelatery steers away from. However, with these taking the back seat, it gives way to another side of Callisto, succeeding in satisfying those listeners looking for something a bit more on the light side but equal to their previous albums in darkness and quality.