SAMMAL

- The first review for this album -

If we don't count the EP from 2014, the albums by these Finnish heavy/psych rockers followed each other in roughly three year cycles. After Suuliekki (2018) there was a bit longer break during which the remaining core line-up of the songwriting guitarist Jura Salmi, vocalist Jan-Erik Kiviniemi and drummer Tuomas Karivaara almost called it a day. This comeback album has gained some fairly positive reviews elsewhere. Upon my first listening I was truly disappointed (mainly for two reasons), even though I can't say Sammal has ever been very close to my heart. At first I was certain I'd give only two stars, but further listening makes me feel less negative.

The heavy presence of organ was IMHO the key element to their retro sound; it was so nice and appropriate to make references to vintage heavy bands such as Deep Purple and Uriah Heep. A new keyboard player was not recruited, instead Salmi uses guitar pedals to simulate keyboard sounds. Now it's perhaps more poignant to talk of guitar dominated stoner rock. The overall soundscape still avoids anything post early 70's, and this leads me to the other complaint. The production is muddy and stuffy, and especially the vocals sound like they were recorded with ancient, poor equipment. Surely it's a deliberate choice, but I do not sympathize such lo-fi attitude.

On their earlier albums Sammal uses Finnish lyrics (with the delightful exception of 'Stormvarning' in Swedish on Myrskyvaroitus) but on this album the mother tongue is accompanied by both Swedish and English. 'På knivan' proves that Finland's second official language fits very well for Sammal. This energetic opening composition is among the best. 'Sehr kryptisch' is sung in Finnish despite the German title. On the surface it's a boring stoner rock tune, but at least there are some nice things Salmi does with his guitar pedals. 'Returning Rivers' is among the least interesting tracks; English has rarely sounded as lifeless.

The title track (well, almost) has some post-punk kind of rawness in it, but there is also progressive edge in the instrumental section. Indie-rock reminding 'Jos ei pelaa' is the most clearly SONG-based, although the guitar solo is powerful. 'λ' (the sixth track named after a Greek alphabet) is an instrumental featuring wildly whizzing & twirling sonics from the pedals plus some high-pitched voice in the background. It's good to have an instrumental on an album where the vocals sound so messy, but unfortunately the piece feels more like "fooling around" than a strong compostion per se. The nicest detail in the other song sung in Swedish, 'Grym maskin', is the piano, also played by Jura Salmi. Sadly it's played very minimally on this album that closes with a high-speed Heavy Rock tune 'Katse vuotaa'.

Safe to say that if you too thought the organ to be Sammal's trademark thing, this album may disappoint you. One has to overcome that disappointment to find out the depths hidden in the low-fi soundscape that initially feels monotonous. 2½ stars rounded up. Easily the least rewarding Sammal album for me.

Last November this Finnish group released their fourth album Aika Laulaa which I will review some day. Since there are sadly only two PA reviews for Sammal altogether, here's one for their second release, a five-track EP titled No 2. Compared to the eponymous debut (2013) -- that undoubtedly was the reason they were categorized as Psychedelic/Space Rock instead of Heavy Prog as I prefer to see them --, this material feels a bit more straight-forward. Sammal plays Finnish-language, retro, organ dominated old school heavy rock in the vein of Uriah Heep and Deep Purple.

This release alone features a guesting violinist and she rocks along in the opening track 'Vankina varisten' (= Imprisoned by crows). Being so short, the composition doesn't really use the opportunity to add some prog in the instrumental section.

'Peilin takaa' is an APHRODITES CHILD cover (relatively rare 'Magic Mirror' from the late 60's) and I believe Sammal has increased the heavy aspect and made the song not so different from their own stuff, although the Hammond work is plain 60's psych rock in it. 'Neito Maan' (= Maiden of [this] land) is enjoyable due to the vocal harmonies and the highly dynamic arrangement. Now this is what I call powerful retro-style Heavy Prog. The organ doesn't entirely steal the show but gives also space for the electric guitar and the violin.

'Tuuli kuljettaa' starts in a slightly calmer manner and adds fuel on the third minute. Here you find the kind of an instrumental extension I was hoping to hear in the opener, although the violin is not present. 'Tähdelle kuolemaan' is a good closing track, and thanks to the passionate harmonized vocals it's perhaps my favourite.

If the band had given more time and dedication for their second release, it could have become a solid and dynamic album, but this feels a bit rushed. Pretty good for an EP, though.

Review Nº 229

Sammal is a progressive rock band from the peninsula of Scandinavia, from Finland. The band is settled in the Finnish port city of Turku. Sammal has been committed to retro prog sounds since their foundation around the year 2010, which, contrary to the supraregional trend of their homeland and the adjoining Scandinavian countries, doesn't so much serve the symphonic prog, but instead relies on the rich 70's heritage, called jazz, hard and psychedelic rock. So far, Sammal have released a self-titled debut studio album in 2013, an EP titled "Nº 2" in 2014, a second studio album called "Myrskyvaroitus" in the following year and a third studio album with the name of "Suuliekki", three years later.

Although I always was a big fan of the progressive rock coming from Scandinavia, mainly because Kaipa, The Flower Kings, Anglagard, Anekdoten, Pain Of Salvation and Opeth, only to mention some of them, I must confess that this band, despite has already released three albums, has completely escaped from my radar, until some months ago.

All began when in May of 2018 when I participated in a prog tourney that usually happens every year. This tourney has the purpose that sixteen contestants can choose sixteen prog albums almost unknown. The final objective is that in the end there is a winner album, after the elimination, round by round, of all the other participants. One of the contestants chose precisely "Suuliekki", the third studio album of Sammal. So, it was in this context that I made my first contact with this band. However, at the time, I was convinced that "Suuliekki" was the debut album of Sammal. It was only when I saw that this band was added to Progarchives that I became aware of the existence of the two previous studio albums. Since I never had heard to talk of this band, I decided to take a look to Progarchives to see some information about them. Still, I saw that they hadn't been already added to this site. As I liked very much of "Suuliekki", in June of 2018 I decided to propose the addition of Sammal to Progarchives. When I contacted siLLy puPPy, he told me that he would suggest them to the "psych team". Sammal was accepted and added to Progarchives, but I only saw it few weeks ago.

So, once that Sammal was added to Progarchives, in part due to me and because I liked very much of "Suuliekki", it seems to me perfectly normal and especially a kind of an obligation, to be the first one to review this album on this site. However, I must confess that I'm very pleased because this isn't the first review of this band, really. Matti had already done the same with their second album "Myrskyvaroitus". And I must confess that he did a great job on that review.

The band state that they devoted more time collecting new song material and incorporating new ideas into the songwriting prior to releasing "Suuliekki". However, I'm not familiar with Sammal's earlier two works to fully assess that statement and to recognize substantial differences. But, according to them, it seems that the music changed a bit.

Each song on the album comes across as a healthy blend of structure and improvisation. There's also a consistent sense of fun and adventure all over the album. The material isn't quite improvised, but it definitely isn't overdone. As I listen to this album, I can almost hear the band trying out different ideas and seeing how they play with everyone else. Fortunately, they work really well. Each track is lively and fresh in ways that reminded me of fun and exciting 70's rock.

I had to rack my brains to come up with suitable comparisons with respect to Sammal's music. Whilst this is also owing to my scarce knowledge of the Finnish progressive rock scene, it certainly is due to a large extent to Sammal's originality. Their music by and large lacks the moody, dark and melancholic atmosphere, the stringency and the seriousness sometimes displayed by many Scandinavian bands such as Anglagard and Anekdoten. Instead, it's rather laid-back, upbeat and here and there comes across with a wink. There are hints of Uriah Heep and Deep Purple for the more hard rock-oriented songs mentioned above. I can also see much psychedelic/space rock music, and it comes to my mind Hawkwind. In reality, there's a bit of everything in "Suulliekki", without the music becoming incoherent, really.

Conclusion: As I mentioned before, I was deeply impressed by the originality and the quality of "Suuliekki". This is, really, a very good and nice album, a truly great surprise for me. I think we can say that we are in presence of a very honest and interesting proposal. But above all, I think the band has much potential to be developed. This is a band with strong influences of the hard rock and the psychedelic/space rock music, indeed. Listeners familiar with the bands mentioned above by me, will recognize their influences, but will be provided with something discrete, not with a mere clone. I hope that with this release, Sammal will step out of what I believe is still a small circle of insiders. They surely would deserve to be known by a wider audience. We'll see it in the future. I'm very curious about the development of this band, really. Meanwhile, soon as I've time and opportunity I'm also very curious and interested to check their two first studio albums. Definitely, here we are in presence of great prog music. I think Sammal deserves to be checked.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Sammal from Turku, Finland, strongly favours 70's-like retro sounds in their progressive, organ-oriented hard rock. I'm not saying they've been placed in a wrong subgenre here, but clear psychedelic/space rock elements aren't very present. Think of early heavy [prog] bands such as Uriah Heep and Deep Purple with a Finnish/Scandinavian classic prog rock flair, and why not some gritty, Hawkwind-like psychedelic feel thrown in. Their style is honestly their own instead of being an imitation of any band. Between the eponymous debut and this album they released a five-song EP titled No 2. The group's music is written by themselves, with the exception of 'Peilin taikaa' on No 2, originally a rare late 60's Aphrodite's Child song 'Magic Mirrors'.

Myrskyvaroitus (= Storm Warning) was recorded in March 2014. The opening track is 'Stormvarning' -- no, there's no misspelling: this is the only Sammal song NOT sung in Finnish, but it's Swedish. Jan-Erik Kiviniemi's tight vocals bend excellently into Swedish, and the song is among their most memorable. I've seen them once on stage, and I remember 'Stormvarning' better than the rest of the set. 'Järjen ohimarssi' (= March-past of sanity) contains a bit longer instrumental section and some slight tempo changes, but the energetic hard-rocking groove is never lost. Roaring Hammond and a biting, suitably distorted electric guitar make sure of that. The third song 'Samaan arkeen' sounds very much like an early 70's song from the heavier end of Finnish prog.

'Kohtaaminen yön vyöllä' (= Rendezvous at the belt of night) is a 2½-minute instrumental rocker full of mighty organ. Stylistic variety isn't very notable on the course of the album, but that's not a problem, and at the very end there will come more. The seventh track 'Sulle haavan tein' (= I wounded you) has a slightly slower tempo and more emotional atmosphere, and the instrumental part increases the prog sensibility of the composition. 'Kohti pintaa' (= Towards the surface) is a very brief instrumental centering on acoustic guitar. It's directly followed by a 10-minute meandering instrumental 'Herätkää! (= Wake up!). It contains surprising elements - including some bar noises briefly at one point - and wide dymanic changes. If the hard-rocking Hammond was almost too central earlier on the album, here you get also pretty delicate moments for various instruments. If there had been also guest musicians on flute for example, this would be a wonderful prog instrumental.

A little more of that eclectic approach concerning the whole album would be most welcome, but all in all Sammal is superb in their chosen retro style. The band's name, meaning moss, suits them really well, depicting earth and simple but mysterious powers of nature. 3½ stars rounded up for fine cover graphics drawn by Kiviniemi and bassist Lasse Ilano.