AURINKO

In my yesterday's review on Aura, CMX's next album after Aurinko, I told about my personal listening history. Seen from the 12-year perspective, I must say that my relationship with the CMX albums have been "updated" only on Aura and the progressive double album Dinosaurus Stereophonicus (2000). I'm planning to (re)listen some of their albums, but on this one I'll throw a quick review depending only on distant memories of it.

I remember there were few interesting songs with a sense of poetic depth - though musically nothing as good as on the Aura album - and mostly some "uglier" songs I didn't enjoy. The difference from Aura is notable, even if the change of musical direction away from noisy and aggressive punk rock started in this album already. The difference is most visible in the production: here things are still quite rough and unpolished.

A. W. Yrjänä's lyrics are in a centre role. He draws influences from old Finnish folklore (Kalevala!) and adds some wordplay in his mystic visions: for example track title 'Manalainen' mixes Manala, the mythic land of the Dead, and maanalainen, meaning underground. One song I still remember quite well is 'Yö ei ole pimeä päivä' ("Night Is Not a Dark Day"). In the evolution of CMX this myth-flavoured album is very notable, especially if you prefer them with rougher edge than with cleaner production and softer songs amidst rock. But it's not among my favourites as a whole. 2½ stars.