MERKURIUS

I have reviewed each album of this Finnish retro prog band, each being better than the previous ones. If the debut (2021) was worth 3½ stars and Myrskyn keskellä (2022) four stars, I'm rounding my 4½ stars up for this new album, just to make the improvement more visible. I still have some ideas to make Vesilinja sound even more enjoyable, but this one indeed offers very satisfying listening experience to those who think only positively of a today's band's attempt to sound like it was the year 1972 or so.

I think their overall sound has mellowed a bit, containing more flute than before, and that's what I really appreciate. If I earlier used to draw comparisons to the Finnish classic acts Tasavallan Presidentti and Haikara (admittedly largely due to the saxophone), now I here and there came to think of the pastoral, romantic output of the early/mid- 70's Rock Progressivo Italiano, bands such as Errata Corrige and Celeste, while one can naturally spot details very reminiscent of the British acts such as Jethro Tull, Yes, early King Crimson and VdGG (not at their most extreme). However, I'm not blaming Vesilinja of copying anyone: their music is a fully matured end product of their own, borne from their love for the classic, early 70's symphonic/eclectic progressive rock. (BTW, I'd suggest to move them from Crossover to Symphonic Prog on this site.)

Guitarist-flautist Aake Salmi composed the brief but vital instrumental opener. Flute brings Jethro vibes but there's some sax too. Guitarist Antti Tuominen wrote and sang 'Illalla', a fairly fast piece with a hint of the early Tony Kaye era Yes. The organ and sax on the calmer moments slightly resemble the early VdGG sound. 'Ikuisuuden puutarha' is saxophonist Topias Ahola's delicate song, very mellow and charmingly starry-eyed. His tender voice reminds me of Pete Sinfield. This lovely song with a beautiful retro sound with lots of flute is where I first came to think of the mellow RPI.

'Kultaiset kehykset' is a melodic uptempo song with a slight Jethro Tull or Finnish Tabula Rasa resemblance. To have both flute and sax happily helps Vesilinja to shape their own realization of the classic prog aesthetics. Niko Saarinen uses his diverse vintage keyboard arsenal (Hammond, Mellotron, Rhodes, Korg) very elegantly, especially on 'Haaste Jumalille' (composed by Tuominen but sung by Salmi). Pretty mellow and melodic, with a nice amount of acoustic guitar, Mellotron, flute and organ.

The second side of the LP consists of a 22½-minute, 7-part title epic, for the most part written by Aake Salmi. I'm glad the band took this ambitious challenge which they definitely nailed extremely well. The fable-like lyrics feature characters of the king, the captain and the general. This could have led to an indulgent operatic approach. There's lots of dynamics, sure (by the way here also guitars have solistic moments more than on the shorter pieces), but the whole maintains its thoughtfulness and delicacy. Not a slightest patchiness around, as the sections follow each other seamlessly and coherently.

As I said, there are some things I'd love to hear (more) in this music. Since all vocalists have a good, pleasant voice not very far from each other, it would be marvelous if they made vocal harmonies, like the pastoral RPI often has. And now that they have crafted their retro sound so excellently, a little wider and more daring variation on the song forms and arrangements would give the album the final half star to become a true masterpiece.