KURKI

I'm a little shocked this one got past me for so long. KURKI(Crane) is a band out of Finland with a female vocalist who really impressed me even bringing Anneke to mind at times. Man I wish Reine Fiske would track this girl down and make some music with here. I mention Reine because there is a PAATOS vibe here along with ANEKDOTEN's more mellow moments, even LANDBERK, so yes these Finns do Swedish melancholic music really well(haha).

"Kaukaisen Marn Laulht" is the one song that is not like the others. This is uptempo and fairly straight forward almost like it might have been a hit in this band's eyes. And my least favourite by far. This one caught me by surprise after reading how melancholic and atmospheric this album is. It's almost like Space Rock to be honest as we get this catchy beat with lots of spacey sounds and vocals. A calm after 2 minutes but it kicks back in after 2 1/2 minutes. I like the ending best from before 4 minutes to the end as it's energetic with guitar out front as some vocal melodies arrive late.

"Pilvilaivat" and the next three songs are all so good. Sparse keys to start as a relaxed full sound joins in quickly of a beat, bass and guitar. Reserved vocals too and what a great chill out tune this is. We get a calm before 4 minutes as the vocals step aside. It then starts to pick up with sax over top. Vocals are back after 5 minutes as it stays more uptempo. An instrumental section begins around 6 1/2 minutes with guitar leading the way. Nice. It's surprisingly powerful until we get that trippy sound again with vocals before 8 minutes.

"Akasha" reminds me of the more mellow moments of THE GATHERING. Atmosphere builds before the drums join in then guitar followed by vocals 1 1/2 minutes in. It turns somewhat powerful with vocals 3 minutes in. Love that guitar as the vocals stop until around the 4 minute mark when they return. There's that amazing guitar again after 6 minutes. It steps aside 7 minutes in as the bass, drums and atmosphere take us to the end.

"Koti" is another laid back and trippy song with relaxed vocals. Oh man check out the mellotron-like sounds before 2 minutes reminding me big time of OPETH's "Damnation". She stops singing for this section but she's back quickly. It turns more powerful and the tempo picks up before 3 minutes, more passionate vocals as well. It climaxes before 4 1/2 minutes then a calm follows with a beat, atmosphere and guitar expressions. Nice. The vocals are back around 5 minutes. It's spacey and experimental sounding late to end it.

"Perhosen Siiven Kuvioissa" opens with picked guitar, a beat, atmosphere and mellotron-like sounds. Vocals join in quickly and we will get contrasts between the vocal sections and instrumental passages. Some vocal melodies later as the sound becomes more powerful after 4 minutes. Some nice guitar a minute later.

I so want to rate this higher than 4 stars I'm just so into their sound, but 4 stars is the right rating for me.