Getting a lot of my play time lately is Viima's "Kahden Kuun Sirpit" (Two crescents); released by Viima records in 2009 and has a total time of 45:13.
This is Viima's 2nd cd and while it still has a folk-prog
touch, it is not however, at all as much folky as on the previous release. This
is more mellow symphonic prog. The group has 3 new members; Hannu Hiltula on
vocals, flute and sax; Aapo Honkanen on bass and Mikko Väärälä on drums. The
vocals are all song in the funny and quite interesting Finnish language. There
are only 4 tracks on the cd.
"Autio pelto"
6:09 - A nice symphonic track which recalls Camel meets Bo Hansson
influences. Excellent flute passages by Hiltula and an overall very good track.
"Unohtunut"
8:29 - A beautiful song that has some Kaipa and Kebnekaise influences; even
Kayak's Ton Scherpenzeel can be heard. Instrumentally, Viima has grown since
last album, however, the vocals had clearly more life and inspiration before.
Päivi Kylmänen, the female vocalist on the previous album is missed here. Maybe
a dual vocal with Hannu Hiltula had fitted nicely in? Hiltola's vocals are monotonous and
lifeless. Fortunately the instrumental parts play the biggest role and saves the
album. Nice church organ by Kimmo
Lähteenmäki and founder member Mikko Uusi-Oukari is showing excellent
guitarplaying ala Camel's Andy Latimer. Mikko Väärälä on drums makes no
mistakes.
"Sukellus" 7:36 - What Hiltula lacks by his vocals, he recovers by great flute
and sax playing. This track is written by Uusi-Oukari who adds an excellent
guitar performance. Here you can hear dreamy, vintage prog elements of
high class. Quite a lot like Camel's "Snow Goose" period. Nice lush
analogue synth layers in the back.
"Kahden kuun sirpit
" 22:45 - Excellent mellow instrumental symphonic prog. Such a long track,
however,needs more changes in tempo and variation. The vocals are slightly more
inspired, but still kind of flat.When that is said the musicians show all high
quality. Some references to Catharsis' Roland Bocquet Mikko's keyboard playing
which adds a flavor to the sound picture. The track kind of builds up around
the 20 mins mark - an slightly opus feeling ends this long song.
All in all there are so much
positivities in this album that Progcat recommends it to any prog-lover!
Kahden Kuun Sirpit
