For their third album Sammal have declared a “second coming”, declaring that they want to be themselves and shake off any comparisons with Black Sabbath or Uriah Heep. My personal recollection of listening to Sammal was of a retro progressive listening experience. Helpfully they have now said who they consider to be influential in their music and it’s an interesting mix: Vangelis, Moody Blues, Scandinavian jazz and Turkish progressive psychedelic music. The last one is lost on me but it sounds intriguing.
I found that “Myrskyvaraitus” (Storm Warning) is an album of contrasts. The opener “Stormvarning” comes nowhere near to telling the whole story in spite of its disparate elements. The funky jazz-like groove made me think of a lounge where a band comes along one evening and plays in front of people in dinner jackets. Yet it has a dreamy prog outlook and came across in its style as a Finnish version of Astra or King Bathmat with Mezzoforte and a bit of Eurovision thrown in. It’s to Sammal’s credit that their lyrics are in Finnish but for most of us this makes them inaccessible. Amidst the dreamy gentle rock sway and 70s organ sound of “Sulle Haavan Tein” (meaning something like “I Cause You Harm”), I found it hard to feel the vocalist’s apparent pain as I had no idea what he was singing about. Sometimes the mood transcends the language but I still felt the barrier. The drum was hypnotic and I thought that this track was crying out for some psychedelic noise or something.
But these seemingly gentle souls do create surprises. “Muurahaisan” (Ants) gets us into an electronic groove before breaking out into something edgy. The tune is steady and calming, but interesting and accessible and one which I could hum. Something was going on here. The world it broke open is rebellious and adventurous, weird even. Yes, please. I really liked this track. So too I liked “Aika On Alkamassa” (The Time Is About To Begin). A cha-cha-cha rhythm with a grumbly bass running through, this began as a well worked and unusual rock song. I had found the psychedelic element of this band but am still puzzling where the Moody Blues part comes in, unless perhaps it’s in the mellow ordinariness of the themes. Then four or so minutes in, the song steps over into some 70s style cosmic self-indulgence. It’s really good as Sammal float off in their multi-coloured dream boat, using the central groove line to good effect and creating a mystical feel. The electronic section conjured up memories of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s “Solar Fire” and I was half expecting Manfred to join in with a magical solo but it didn’t happen. I thought the same when listening to “Järjen Ohimassi” (no idea what this means, I’m afraid) but Sammal do it their own way. This is an apparently innocuous funky song, which in modern terms sounds like Astra, but then heads off to rock orbit. Progressive, avant-garde, experimental – all these words to mind when describing this.
I reached the conclusion when listening to “Myrskyvaroitus” that in general, the longer the track, the better it was as Sammal give themselves more space in which to express themselves. The title of “Samaan Arkeen” (The Same Everyday) may give a clue as to why it has such a sultry backing, but whilst a full whack of experimentalism maybe isn’t a great idea, I did find this track rather dreary and as always I was struggling with the vocals. But overall this album is full of interest. There are bizarre, psychedelic fillers and a bit of acoustic folk to go with the progressive rock core. The album closes with “Herätkäa!”, a 10 minute track. Before I used my trusty translator to find out this means “Awake”, I wondered if it might mean “Surprise”, not forgetting the ! of course. After a dark, sinister, faintly cosmic and repetitive beginning, acoustic tones emerge. It’s like being in a coma, entering a fairyland … create your own image. Mine was of a snowy scene for some reason. Then out of nowhere a powerful rock riff rises out of the imaginary wonderland and strides forward groovily. There’s a rush of excitement before it reverts to the repetitious electro style which brings this strange album to an understated close.but interesting
Bravo Sammal! I can’t say that I was knocked out at every second of “Myrskyvaroitus”. It’s the conventional parts which I found hard to access and I thought there were some missed opportunities but this album is full of interesting ideas, good grooves and developments. “Myrskyvaroitus” is captivating and has a refreshing sense of adventure.
(7.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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