TRENCH OF LONELINESS

Here's the first review for this Finnish artist. An excellent bio by Gordy, by the way. Behind this Latin moniker is Jesse Heikkinen, probably best known as the guitarist in Hexvessel which is also in ProgArchives. Trench of Loneliness is already the fourth release -- the first two were only roughly 29 minutes long -- but the first one to enter my radar. All ten tracks here are of regular length between 3 and 5 minutes, and performed entirely by Heikkinen (apart from tin whistle on the last song).

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.

Born Again Iterum Nata, a 2017 psychedelic dark-folk-rock project by Finnish multi-instrumentalist Jesse Heikkinen who played in Hexvessel. His 4th album gives a pagan view of the esoteric world we live in; dark, melodic and emphatic; a bit of Tenhi, King Crimson, Strawbs, Kristoffer Gildenlöw for an intimate meditative journey.

'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.

With ITERUM NATA exploring our spiritual connections, it seems only fitting that the state of loneliness be elevated to the same worth as Christianity or Buddhism in one's quest for meaning and fulfillment. Probably the most melodic of Heikkinen's releases so far, and most accessible, or least inaccessible at any rate, "The Trench of Loneliness" is perhaps less varied but paradoxically less repetitive, and the hard rock excursions of its predecessor are largely absent. Arrangements are still chiefly cavernous 12-string and caressing synths that emerged from mellotron pupae, along with understated yet emotive vocals.

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.