Have to say beyond the name and the fact that a variety of people of my acquaintance like them, my personal interaction with these Finns has been minimal. So time to correct that came up and here we are with their fourth full length since 2013. It’s also worth mentioning that since their inception they seem to have had a stable line-up too which speaks a lot to their focus and collective vision I suspect. Oh and they sing in Finnish, but the PR pack not only provided lyrics but English translations too, which is very neat.
Sticking with the English titles, strummed guitar, drums and pipes/keyboard open up ‘Silence Never Lasts’. There’s a smooth vibe to this, a downbeat feel to the melody and the mix of great clean vocals and harsher ones work superbly as it picks its pace from pagan folk to borderline black metal riffing. The lyrics suit the mood; reflective and somewhat bleak, and the rise and fall of the melody is driven by dark, bass heavy thunder. It’s when it breaks back to the slower section and the clean vocals that the true quality is made apparent. The layering of the vocals, the sweep of the keyboards and the sure hold of the melody are just beautiful.
‘Few Decide Their Farewells’ is again heavy on the melody and atmosphere, a reflective intonation to the clean voice. There’s a touch of the Lonely Robot style of prog to this, even a little hint of Rush in the melodies, spliced to a dramatic and emotional touch that you might find in the less bombastic, more reflective moments of Amorphis. Vesa Salovaara’s vocals though are just mesmeric here, tugging every bit of emotion from the bittersweet melody. ‘The Light’ combines touching, melancholy but compelling lyrics with a melody to die for. The keyboards carry it into the epic reaches of melodeath in a way, think Countless Skies style with a somehow folk feel to it and great use of the harsh vocals when needed.
I think it’s safe to say that the gentle prodding I’ve had towards Vorna has undersold them. This is the work of fine maturity, of class, and of a band never willing to let go of the emotions that are wrapped up in these songs. They glide along this borderland between folk and pagan metal, occasional rages of black metal and the gentle touch of reflective melody. They slip past the tempting symphonic sounds and instead plot a course through the landscape of their homeland and find inspiration in the cliffs and the rocks, the skies and the cold. They songs may be introspective but a sense of scale, the individual set against this landscape, is ever present and the two are never separated. It’s this style of the ‘folk’ element in these songs, with the fantastic and often gentle lead vocals, the perfect backing voices that brings visions to mind both of the motions expressed and the place from which they come. I can’t deny there is a sense of loneliness, or at least insignificance against the backdrop but these feelings are still so real.
There is much music here that is slow, and flowing softly as though to avoid breaking the feelings it carries, but it so often rises with real strength too; the music building, the harsh vocals pushing it on with never a misstep.
Songs of loss and regret, sadness, melancholy. But also music of vision and reflection and a grand natural stage and with melody that rises straight through you stomach to your heart. The closing tunes of ‘The Ocean’ and ‘Dawn’ will haunt you for weeks.
Folk, pagan, melodic death, a sparse sprinkle of black metal and prog. This is one of those albums that despite the words that can raise your spirit and soul a little as they somehow can still see the beauty around them as their inner world strains and struggles.
Just kinda beautiful.
(9/10 Gizmo)
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