My lesser known and unknown new prog bands thread

VIIMA — Ajatuksia Maailman Laidalta

This debut album by the Finnish progrock band Viima has touched me from the very first moment, what a wonderful sound featuring lots of fine musical ideas and surprising twists and turns. The six compositions (all between 6 and 10 minutes) contain a blend of folk, rock and symphonic rock, in my opinion with the emphasis on the latter category. You will hear many flowing shifting moods, from dreamy to rock or bombastic parts: Leijonan Syksy delivers halfway a beautiful keyboard interlude as a bridge to a long and moving guitar solo with echoes from Steve Rothery, the titletrack contains great variation, from sparkling piano to wah-wah guitar, a harpsichord-piano duet and a church organ part, Ilmalaiva Italia starts dreamy but then there is a steamy rock and roll guitar interlude and a sensational synthesizer solo and in Luutomat the dreamy climate with twanging guitars and flkute turns into a mid-tempo with fiery saxophone work (in the vein of mid-Pink Floyd) and majestic violin-Mellotron. The final, long track Johdsatus delivers again lots of variation, wonderful keyboards and a long, compelling guitar solo. To me Viima their sound evokes early Renaissance (great female vocals but in Finnish) and mid-Genesis (lush 24-carat symphonic rock parts) but Viima doesn’t sound as a clone, they present a beautiful blend of folk and symphonic rock that contains many surprising musical ideas. This is a strong debut!


VIIMA — Ajatuksia Maailman Laidalta

Viima were once known as the band "The Lost Spectacles" who later changed their name and released a stunning debut album under the name now of Viima. Led by the beautiful female vocals of Päivi Kylmänen (hate to say but carries a slight Annie Haslam quality) along with the excellent keyboard work of Kimmo Lähteenmäki (who also played drums in the sessions), guitarist/flautist Mikko Uusi-Oukari and bass player Jarmo Kataja deliver some great music here. This band and album reaches out on a few different directions with strong allusions to Camel, Renaissance and even some Arena. My favourite track is "Ilmalaiva Italia" which crossed the Porcupine Tree realm with some pretty moving musical moments. Generally the mood of this album is soft and symphonic but there are a few heavier guitar ripping sections too. I love the flute and keyboard symphonic passages which definitely remind me of classic Camel. Viima has really released a lovely album here for sure and I would recommend this album to everyone lover of Progressive Rock.

VIIMA — Ajatuksia Maailman Laidalta

From the land of a thousand lakes and forests comes this preciously sober, simple and enchanting prog folk album, not pretentious for a second and a definite dose of soothing aural medicine after a heavy day of Anekdoten pounding your senses into oblivion. What makes this such an attractive package is the constant progressive touches to the folk concept (which alone can be a little wimpy) , so we have a smorgasbord chock full of whopping lead guitar solos in a very clean and fluid style , keyboards that mesh organ, piano, harpsichord and some nice fat synth solos and an efficient rythm section that reminds us this is not a two acoustic guitars and one singer folkie cafe ensemble. It is also an experience to witness all the vocals sung in Finnish, a surprisingly fluid language that is more pleasant than their scandinavian and germanic neighbours , expertly delivered by a female singer with a most unique inflection to her voice, simply pure yet with a steady set of pipes , without overdoing it or hogging the spotlight. Lots of little touches, a hint of flute, a blast of sax, always exciting and surprising, making this a thorough listening experience. All the tracks are in the 7 minute range with "Ilmalaiva Italia" standing slightly ahead of the pack, but this is a consistent ride , though a tad too short ( I hate short prog albums, Le Orme's biggest caveat....) but this will undoubtedly please fans of Shine Dion, early White Willow, Faveravola, Gian Castello and even Blackmore's Knight. Hey! 4 nordic stars .

VIIMA — Ajatuksia Maailman Laidalta

I really love the haunting sound of the female vocalist in this band. I love the haunting and romantic sound of their music. I think that their music is affecting my emotions in a very good way. For that reason I want to give it five stars. I think they are going to have much better records to come. I think for an independent record, it deserves five stars. Not everyone can enjoy strawberry icecream, but this is my taste in music, and I think it is very excellent in many ways. They have very excellent ideas and arrangements are very well thought out.

VIIMA — Ajatuksia Maailman Laidalta

One reason I tend to prefer prog from non Anglo countries is that I have a great love of world music and find that it often incorporates well into the bands from afar, at least from my prespective. Certainly this is not always the case, and sometimes only the vocals sound foreign, but, in Viima's debut, the influence of Finnish folk music on the overall symphonic sound is readily discernible. Excellent female vocals and classic progressive instrumentation including flute, along with some arrangements that make the hair stand on end, are everywhere on this album.

One comparison I can think of would be early Camel instrumentally, and there is certainly a Camel vibe throughout, both in guitars and organs. I had also heard comparisons to Mostly Autumn, but find Mikko Uusi-Oukari's guitar style a lot less diffuse than that of Bryan Josh, and the folk element of Vima is more sprinkled throughout the disk whereas with Mostly Autumn it tends to dominate or be virtually absent. I would expect that experts on the Scandinavian axis could cite others, although early White Willow did come to mind in a few places.

My favourite remains the opener, "Leijonan syksy", with its delicate pastoral theme on string sounding keys followed by a spiritual lead guitar solo being the absolute highlight. "Ajatuksia Maailman Laidalta" bares the Scandinavian roots a bit more, while "Meri" features more gorgeous lead guitar and keyboard interchanges with Päivi Kylmänen's singing the perfect compliment. "Luuttomat" starts off with vocals, flute and acoustic guitars not entirely unlike some of White Willow's early material but more overtly folky. These segments alternate brilliantly with a more ominous rhythmic guitar/saxophone theme. This album is not flawless, as "Illmalaiva Italia" shows a certain lack of maturity in its handling of shifting moods, and the closer "Johdatus" does drag a little, but even in the weaker moments, Viima shows that they have successfully incorporated ancient and modern themes into a distinctive style. Highly recommended.