AINAVIHANTAA

At the time of the second album Toinen Toista (2018) of this very retro-spirited Finnish prog group I was enthused and gave it a five-star praise. From today's perspective I'd probably round it down to four stars. With this notion I'm kinda smoothening my slightly more reserved reception for this third album, indicating that it's not really a disappointment per se. According to the promo sticker on the vinyl's cover "Ainavihantaa is a step further and higher". I certainly get the point. In a way this is more ambitious prog in the manner of early King Crimson than their fairly mellow precedessors.

A change in the line-up is elemental in the sound. Exit guitarist Tony Björkman (leaving all the guitar duties to vocalist Baba Issabeigloo), enter Taavi Heikkilä on alto/tenor saxophone and clarinet. The presence of sax helps associating the music with the early Crimso and also with the Finnish vintage prog of Haikara. The overall mood is a bit darker than before. This is especially felt on the melancholic opener 'Alava vaara'. The Mellotron is in the core of the majestic vintage approach, and one could easily imagine Ian McDonald (r.i.p.) blowing the saxophone.

'Vapaa ja autio' (= "free and deserted") is a fine and rather mellow instrumental. The most solistic parts are for alto sax. 'Sisävesien rannat' (= "shores of inland waters") is instrumental for the large part. The first half is like a jam-based attempt of sounding like saxy prog from the late 60's/ early 70's before calming down to the serene and ethereal latter half with the vocal part. The clarinet & piano interplay brings an elegant chamber music ingredient. I wish this piece would have continued and made a stronger conclusion instead of just withering away.

I like the lyrics by drummer Juuso Jylhänlehto throughout the album. The imagery deals with nature -- the dying and rebirth -- and human beings in an introvert and esoteric way. The melodicism of 'Dyadi' (what is a dyadi??) comes perhaps the closest to the Toinen Toista album, but there's a slight sense of over- extension in seven minutes, at least in the instrumental tail. 'Haavan väri' is the other completely instrumental piece, again the sax is up front. Well, this is okay, nothing very impressive. The track title has two meanings: it can either mean "the colour of a wound" or "the colour of an aspen". It must be a leaf of an aspen on the cover (which I honestly consider rather dull). The album's title track may be my favourite. It has melodic delicacy and the majestic feel of the early symphonic prog, containing also strong details in the arrangement, trombone and trumpet guesting.

If you're not yet familiar with Malady but enjoy retro- oriented mellowish prog in Finnish, and have nothing against saxophone, this album is equally as recommendable as Toinen Toista.