After some internal turmoil the Finns are back with their fourth album. As with their last album Jaded you will find song upon song of highly catchy and heavy rock music with slight gothic undertones. The gothic touch comes singlehandedly from lead singer Jape's unique voice. Once his voice gets under your skin you will get addicted, trust me. He is able to bring seriously strong emotions into the songs. Emitting an atmosphere of sorrow and hurt is where his voice excels. The music on the other hand is mostly up tempo and has an uplifting feeling to it. Nearly every song has a strong melodyline, a sing-a-long chorus or some vocal melody that sticks in your head.
Compared to Jaded the keyboards are a little more in background this time. They are still all over the music adding a lot to the atmosphere, but the whole feel is less electronic compared to Jaded and more rocking.
Starting with the introspective
Autumn Forever the album jumps from one highlight to another, only skipping a beat a couple of times.
Autumn Forever wasn't instantly captivating but it grew with each listen and is now one of my favorites. The short bridge to the chorus is the absolute highlight of the song with the chorus coming in close behind on second place. A heavy opener, both musically and lyrically.
The acoustic guitar element in
Lies works very well and gives the song a vulnerable edge. This song has intensity and melody in equal amounts and as Jape's voice smoothly becomes one with the music the result is simply breathtaking.
Little Deaths has the piano adding a touch of zero gravity to the atmosphere. It was the first single of the album and it's obvious to hear once you reach the brilliant chorus. Jape's thick accent does show itself from its worst side here though. This song is just one example of how well the keyboard is integrated into the overall sound.
When I first heard
Fragmented I thought "Is this The Unknown III??". It is not, but the beginning sounds a bit inspired. An excellent song which is ruled by a fantastic chorus you can't help but get caught up in. The quiet part also works very well.
Endlessly is at the moment my favorite song on here. Finally the sun shines through a small chink in Jape's otherwise black and sorrowfilled lyrical universe and he sings the song with a ton of emotion. Pretty damn beautiful.
Music doesn't come much catchier than this and if you don't scream along to the chorus of
Fragmented and
Endlessly or croon along to
Lies after a few listens then you are in need of a giant ear cleaner (or... maybe this music is just not for you).
Chaotic Me, with its strong ending section, is a song that grows with each listen and it has slowly risen above the batch of songs I find not quite on par with the ones mentioned above. The members of this batch include a couple of unexciting songs, namely
No Turning Back and
This World Is Made For Me while the ending breather
Last breath just feels out of place. Beside these this is a superb collection of tunes which work both when you just want to sit back and reflect on things or have a sing-a-long during a party.
As always the band takes a well known song and covers it in their own special way. This time U2's
New Year's Day is the chosen one. Again they get away with it unscarred.
The lyrics swim around in a sea of despair and hopelessness. Sometimes it gets a bit too much and I want to shout loud "Lighten up dammit!". The lyrics just have a sadly depressive feel to them.
The strong melodic nature of the songs is the band's biggest strength. The songs just creep into your mind and makes you spin the album just one more time. Easily digested, but not easily forgotten. All in all this is an infectous album and an impressive follow-up to the fantastic Jaded. It almost reaches the same high level but not quite.
Written by
Steen Sunday, September 4, 2005
Show all reviews by SteenRatingsSteen: 7.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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