EXTRAORDINARY

Low Budget Orchestra is the name under which Finnish multi-instrumentalist Mikko Muranen explores his progressive side.Formerly he released albums under the monikers Dogmeat and Mutantum and around 2004 he started also this project in order to perform instrumental Progressive Rock music.His first effort was the 2006 private release ''Extraordinary''.

The album contains ten tracks of instrumental Heavy Prog, where the music is driven mostly by powerful grooves, spacey, intense synthesizers and solid drumming.Muranen's compositions are based on his heavy guitar riffing and the more elaborate solos, while he also does a good job as a keyboard performer.His dynamic guitar playing is always supported by sharp and flashy synths as well as some decent organ runs and virtuosic piano passages, which sometimes even take over the guitars, while the rhythm section seems to have also been executed in a studio basis.Unspectacular yet pretty tight drumming and a sense of light bass lines make the album sounding pretty close to a normal band.His first album though contains little to no suprises.All tracks seem to follow the same form of rhythmic and rich Instrumental Rock with an amazing balance between guitar- and keyboard-led textures, but the lack of diversity prevents the album from offering some trully magical moments.

This album takes a good grade, considering it is a debut and moreover a one man's effort.Solid instrumental music, that sometimes screams for a more fresh air of flexibility.Still I recommend it to all fans of instrumental adventures.