Category: Albums

{mosimage}The Irish boys feature their second full-length album filled with great songs and 100% classic rock! 

I have the chance to meet the guys from the band a couple of years ago before their concert at Tavastia, in Helsinki. They were friendly, and frozen in the Finnish winter. So I was very excited when their follow-up album reached my hands. What you have here is simply classic rock & roll. If you like bands like AC/DC or Led Zepellin, this is the answer to your prays: catchy tunes, catchy riffs, catchy lyrics… catchy everything. If you like more experimental rock, then maybe you could find The Answer a bit boring for your taste.  

Because I love classic rock, I certainly enjoyed this album, but I understand that many people can consider them just a cheap and young version of AC/DC. Maybe for the future, they should try to find a more risky approach to their music. On the other hand, AC/DC have had the same sound for decades, and everybody still love them… so you never know what the best path to follow is. Meanwhile, listen to tracks like Demon Eyes, Too Far Gone or Cry Out and enjoy a taste or Ireland with a good cold Guinness in your hand! 

Rating 4/5

{mosimage}Here is another very interesting young Finnish pop band featuring their debut album 

My First Band is a Finnish band composed by Antti Koivula in the vocals, Heikki Puhakainen in the keyboards, Juho Vehmanen as bass player, Heikki Kytölä on the drums and Mikko Virta as guitarist. With the backing up of a major label as EMI, they firmly step into the pop-rock scene exhaling good quality. Antis’ vocals are really something, catchy, well tuned, and can instantly hook you up.  

The melodies are cleverly composed, intelligent, and easy listening. They have the perfect balance between meaning and light-hearted spirit to reach all kind of audiences, from the lovers of more sad and depressing tunes to the people who just enjoy listening to radio at home while doing other tasks or the ones who can shake their butts at the dance floors of any Finnish pub. We could highlight some excellent tracks in the album like the opening Little White Lies, Broken Day or Why do you treat me so bad. 

A great debut album that confirms once more that Finland is living a golden era in many different musical genres. And we hope that the trend continues for many years! 

Rating 4/5

{mosimage}The one thing that I find difficult when it comes to reviewing a new album is the fact that there’s usually not enough time to really make any proper judgments. Initial reviews of an album can feel rushed and just skim the surface of what only time spent living with that album can reveal. So here comes U2’s latest release, No Line on The Horizon, an album that almost demands repeated listening to fully appreciate its depth and nuance.

No Line on The Horizon is U2’s 12th studio release and catches the band at a bit of a crossroads. Trying to venture forth from the relative safety of their “back-to-basics” approach to song writing of their last two albums, the band is once again in search of a new sound while at the same time trying to retain the core of what makes them quintessentially U2. After scrapping their recording sessions with producer Rick Rubin (whose hands-off style probably didn’t fit well with their new experimental direction), the band enlisted the help of long-time collaborators Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. This new album – a product of the band’s jam sessions in Fez, Morocco with Eno and Lanois (who share co-writing credits) – chronicles their journey. For much of the album, the band has abandoned traditional song structures and have opted instead to create sonic landscapes and textures grounded by Adam Clayton’s tasteful but driving bass lines. The album mixes Rock, electronica, Jimmy Page-esque guitar riffs, and ambient music along with some Arabic influences thrown in for good measure.

There are more immediate and accessible songs (including the campy Get On Your Boots and Stand Up Comedy) thrust in the middle of No Line on the Horizon, but they almost serve as a counterpoint to the album’s more experimental side. These less accessible songs however, (which include Fez-Being Born, White as Snow, and Cedars of Lebanon), are really the heart of the album; drawing the listener in further each time they’re heard.

No Line on The Horizon is at times somber and contemplative (but never boring) with more than enough compelling moments to make it a journey well worth taking.

U2 will hit the road this year in support of the new album, playing 19 stadium dates in Europe (closest Finland show is Gothenburg, Sweden) followed by more dates in North America in the Fall.

Rating 4/5

{mosimage}The band is certainly not lacking of new material in the last years. Here comes a new CD/DVD recorded in Hong Kong (and other places) to check how the Finnish metal legends sound live!

It does not feel like it was so long time ago, but it has been already  3 years since Tarja Turunen left the band and the Swedish Anette Olzen came to cover her position. So after the turning point of Dark Passion Play, this does not seem like a bad moment to feed the fans with a new live album that explicit explains the continuation of the band after the End of an era, the last concert played by Tarja Turunen and the Finnish fellows in Helsinki.

But honestly, I have the impression that this release is not going to convince to most of the fans. Obviously the hardcore followers will be delighted with a new record, but the material seems maybe not too “fulfilling” to convince people about the purchase. All the live tracks are extracted from Dark Passion Play, 10 songs that sound great, well produced, with good quality and with a nice connection between Olzen and the fans worldwide (the tracks are cut not only in Hong Kong but in different parts of the world, as the co-title of the album explains). But the demo version of Cadence of her last breath feels a bit more like a filler than like a real present for fans, and the DVD does not provide with anything so special apart from the typical backstage scenes, etc in a documentary + 3 video clips that last less than an hour.

Nightwish could have offered more than this, and the question that immediately gets raises is why older songs from the band that are commonly played on live gigs like Nemo or Wish I had an Angel are out of this record.  Trying to avoid comparisons between Turunen and Olzen? We cannot forget that the older material is also an important part of the history of Nightwish, but taking this decision of offering only tracks from the latest album just raises more questions and disappointment among the fans. 

Made in Hong Kong (and in various other places) is undoubtedly a good live album, but a band with such an international top position as Nightwish has could and should have done much better than this. It seems that the shadow of Tarja Turunen keeps giving more than one headache to Mr. Marco Hietala.

Rating 3/5.

Related articles:

Review of Dark Passion Play: http://www.freemagazine.fi/content/view/409/118/

Interview with Tarja Turunen: http://www.freemagazine.fi/content/view/510/117/

{mosimage}From Austria comes this metalcore band with a great follow-up album for the delight of the fans!

The Sorrow is not an unknown band in Finland, They have been playing around in different big summer festivals in the past, and count with a good bunch of followers, although their strongest audiences are still in Germany and Austria. After the great album debut Blessings from a Blackened Sky in 2007, here comes the follow-up work.

What you will find here is quite a “melodic” metalcore. The shouts and heavy riffs are present, but still it is something that most of metal fans can enjoy with no effort. Some highlighted tracks in the album are for my taste Heaven is no place for us or Tempestuous. If you like bands like Killswitch Engage or even In Flames, this can be your cup of tea.

The Sorrow do not really add much new to the genre, neither they are an extra-skilled band. But what they do, they do it well, and their direct style is easy to be enjoyed by metal fans. A decent second studio album for the Austrians! 

Rating 3/5.

{mosimage}The Helsinki-based and Tampere-born young singer features her debut album

First thought that I had when I took a look at Nika´s CD is that it would be another average female Finnish singer with the catchy and easy listening pop-songs that can reach easily teenage audiences. Well, the album is easy to listen, but it is a nice breeze of fresh musical air to listen to the groovy, blues and hip hop rhythms added here.

Not that we have something totally breaking new, but the work is more than good for being the first full length. The catchy track Sovita mua will make you move your feet while other songs are more introspective, narrating the everyday life from the eyes of a young girl, like Hiipuu or the sweet Heikkona hetkenä.

A notable effort for young Nika, who manages to deliver a pretty enjoyable record.

Rating 3/5.

{mosimage}After a couple of years without having new material, the metal band from Lahti provides us with a little masterpiece of new album

Honestly, I hardly knew Profane Omen before this new album fell into my hands, so I had a totally “blank” mind towards what I could find here. And the result has just blown me off.  Starting with the following guitar solo of Williami Kurki in the intro Seconds and followed up by the hammering drums beats of Base, this is a squared album of good heavy metal. Although the work has a good doses of groove metal, it is certainly not difficult to listen to even for the non-extremist metal fans.  The shouts and the most melodic vocal tones in the lyrics are perfectly measured, and certainly the result is powerful, but not too off the hook.  Even the slower "ballad" In the middle I breath puts the top on this metal musical cake.

All in all a great album and a good surprise (I needed this week just to listen to an album exhaling energy like this during the boring office hours). If Profane Omen would be an American band, they would have already broken through international charts, so I just hope they find the right promotion to make their dreams come true.

Rating 5/5.

{mosimage}The Tampere based metal band strikes back one year ago after their release of the great Sleep with another superb album.

Being the current one only the third album of the band, and after a short time of having released their follow-up full length, I must admit that Masterstroke must be probably the young metal band that has advance and improved more quickly in the super-competitive national metal scene. As days grow darker sounds compact, rounded, well produced, with excellent and sharp riffs and with the lyrics and voice of Niko in perfect shape. The album is overall shiny when the band goes full speed and accelerates the rhythm like in the demolishing Walls of my temple or in the blowing intro riffs of the album for Wait for the fail.

After having opened the gig of Scorpions in Madrid last year and featuring this superb new work, I am sure that we will be hearing many more good things about Masterstroke in the following years.

Rating 4/5. 

Related article (Interview with Jussi, keyboard player of Masterstroke):

http://www.freemagazine.fi/content/view/551/117/

{mosimage}Produced by Daniel Ray, here comes the fifth album of the pussy gang!

Nashville Pussy, the Atlanta based band, is back. It seems incredible that their first album Let Them Eat Pussy has already been for more than 10 years in the market! The 2 boys and 2 girls, led by singer Blaine Cartwight are all what you want to desire from an American bar band; anthems about sex, whisky, drugs, fights…  And also provocation like in the catchy and funny Lazy Jesus, not forgetting some real kick ass riff guitars like in From Hell to Texas.  

Nashville Pussy is kind of the dirtier version of Aerosmith, but they really work their butt hard to be at the top of hard rock American scene. They would definitely be perfect counterparts for a tour with Los Bastardos Finlandeses, if they ever come to Finland in the near future. A great album if you like the Jack Daniels side of rock!

Rating 4/5. 

{mosimage}Third full length for the Finnish bands, counting with a new vocalist: Jani Ala-Hukkala.

A new studio album for Callisto since 2006 and great expectation to see how the debut of the new vocalist, Jani, would affect the band. With a very experimental sound, this Providence is certainly pretty enjoyable.  Maybe for some hard-core fans, it can sound pretty different to what was done before, but it is good to change from time to time, isn´t it? Maybe here they sound less brutal, and more mellow and progressive than before, but I have personally nothing bad against that. Harsh vocals are mostly disappearing, and Jani exercises more his vocal skills than his predecessor, but since I am more into more melodic tunes, I still see this as very good. The instruments still create an appealing gloomy and dark atmosphere, but the album can really reach a more mainstream audience.

All in all, I think Callisto has changed for the best, and although like in every change, there will be people and old fans who will not accept this, we welcome the new face of Callisto as a good improvement!

Rating 4/5. 

{mosimage}The lovers of the Spanish speaking mysterious woman are back with another superb studio album!

Since I saw them live at Tuska festival in Helsinki a couple of years ago, I am totally convinced that 45 Degree Woman is one of the best hard rock/metal bands in Finland. They have everything to succeed: a great vocalist, good feeling on stage and union and connection among them and also with the audience. For all the reasons mentioned above, it is also a pity that they do not seem to explode and cross the border between the mid-size venues and the secondary stages at summer festivals and doing something really big. Let´s see if with Revival things continue improving for them. Because what you have here is certainly another pearl of Finnish rock scene.

A great and polished production, guitars that sound raw but clean, the voice of Viman mastering every track of the album like if it would just be a cat playing with a plastic mouse, and really catchy songs. If I have to highlight one, I got especially fond of Close to me, but basically every one of the 10 tracks that compose Revival is good enough to be a single by itself.

You can enjoy also at our home site an exclusive interview with vocalist Miko Viman where he tells more things about the new album and the plans for the band. I honestly hope that they won´t only bright at Finnish festivals next summer, but also start to find their own space abroad, because they deserve it!

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}Ben Granfelt Band offers a great album of rock with a twist of blues that sounds deliciously great!

Ben has a really long career, having played in many bands and projects including the legendary Finnish Leningrad  Cowboys. He started his debut project in 1993 and what you have here is no less than his 10th studio album. And luckily they will keep coming as good as this one. Because what you have between your hands with Kaleidoscope is a little masterpiece. Adding a new keyboard player, Kasper Martenson (who previously played with metal band Amorphis)  the band sounds better than ever. A great kicking off for the album with Julie is followed up by the great instrumentation displayed in Because we can and the great cover from David Gray Dead in the water. Basically every track could be a single just by itself, although if I have to choose a song, my highlight of the album goes for What comes around goes around.

Ben Granfelt and his Finnish fellows are able to complete a superb album that will provide with endless hours of satisfaction to the lovers of good blues and rock. Pretty enjoyable!

Rating 4/5. 

{mosimage}After splitting up with Sunrise Avenue, it is about time for their former guitarist Janne Kärkkäinen to show what he is able to do in a solo career…

Cyanide Skies is the debut album for the solo career of Kärkkäinen after his departure in 2007 from Sunrise Avenue. Counting with the collaboration of his friends from the also Finnish band Poets of the Fall, Janne is not only able to state that he had enough talent to start alone a new career, but he delivers an amazingly good album. The record is composed by ten hard rock tracks easy to listen, with good quality, great production and excellent lyrics; in fact the album surprises quickly being very catchy and offering a good vibe in most of the songs. If I have to choose, I would highlight Perfectly Good Day, Carry Me (with an intro riff that reminds me of Pearl Jam) or the heart-lightening Hey You.

For those who thought that Janne’s career will be over after his departure from SA, here comes a frontal kick on their face. Cyanide Skies is powerful but measured, the perfect product to reach big audiences without losing the essence of good hard rock. No wonder that just after releasing it has hit the Finnish charts in a very top position. A nice surprise indeed!

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}Debut  album for another amazing Finnish rock band. It seems that the resources to give birth to great bands are never ending in our dear Suomilandia!

Founded at the beginnings of the decade by vocalist H-P Poikonen, the band has been around in Finnish and other international stages (like in Estonia) for a few years, gaining experience and having a few changes in the formation until it seems they have reached enough maturity to release a full length debut album. And the result is quite astonishing. This Take your time exhales quality from the first blowing track Burning Bridges. Poikonen´s vocal skills are some of the best I have heard recently in “new” Finnish singers and the orchestration sounds compact, with a very well produced sound, and an amazing artwork (really, the CD cover must be the most beautiful one I have seen in Finnish releases for a very long time!). The quality of the melodic rock played by the Finnish does not decrease with great other tunes like the first single Ordinary Special (that reminds me of the British band Uninvited Guest) or the touching ballad Love is dead.

I could say that this Take your time is one of the best surprises of the last month in the Finnish hard rock scene, but it seems I repeat the same every few weeks due to the big amount of amazing titles that we receive from new talented bands. So resuming, I just can say that if you like good melodic rock, you cannot miss listening to Pin Ion and checking out their live concerts. A superb debut album that hopefully will be followed up by a great success story!

Rating 5/5. 

{mosimage}The fathers of grindcore, the British brutal metal band from Birminghan is back in better shape than ever!

I must honestly confess that grindcore is not one of my favourite metal genres. Maybe I find it “too much” for my taste. I usually find more enjoyable classic hard rock and metal. All in all, I must not less than recognize the merit of Napalm Death. They still sound like youngsters full of rage, not easy for a band whose members are around their 40s.Far from resting on their laurels, the album is again incendiary but catchy at the same time with a sharpened sound and Greenway´s still in great shape as vocalist.

With 28 years of career and 14 albums released, you could not ask for much more than what the British offer here; an album that will please the hardcore fans at the same time that opens a bit the door for other kind of audiences that not necessarily are into grindcore to get to like them. Definitely again a good work!

Rating 3/5.