This is the 5th
album (The Mirror of Time) from the Finnish band Kosmos. I have been a big fan
of all their work and was so grateful to receive the new album (Kiitos Olli!) in the mail to review. I am
pretty sure it is the same crew as the last album and once again if features a
set of magical tunes. The title track
starts things off with a long fade in of a repeated keyboard line before that
suddenly drops out and the acoustic guitar and mellotron takes the lead. Beautiful music. Päivi has a magical voice that suits this
music so well. The mellotron parts are fantastic on this song. Very interesting
lyrics as well. Eilinen (Yesterday) is a happy uptempo track with some drums,
bass, guitar and violin. Lapsen Uni (Always Close) is a more melancholy with
the organ and some traditional Finnish instruments being mixed in as well
(Ksylofon, taalmala). Aina Lähellä (Towards the Sky) is a floating track with
the focus on the voice. Floating and happy. Kohti Taivasta finishes side A and
features the shrutibox, some congas and a really nice drony start and then the
acoustic guitar brings in the happiness of spring!
Side A starts with Salainen Oppi (The Secret Doctrine). It starts with voice and piano and later
features a saxophone solo, the first on this record. The mellotron really changes the mood with
the voices and airy floating feeling.
Jatkuvuus (Continuity) is a dark mysterious track, a bit like GONG, with
a guy named Juha doing some spoken word.
Minä Olen (I Am) is a long nearly 12 min track and the one I have played
the most. I really love this track. It is very dynamic, with a slow beautiful
beginning but becomes the most heavy track the band has ever recorded. IT also features a spoken word by Juha and
some great lyrics.
The album features very nice artwork and as is normal with this band
you get an insert with the lyrics in both Finnish and English as all the songs
are sung in Finnish, the bands native tongue.
No comments:
Post a Comment