…and Oceans healed.
Two years after their last production, Timo “T” Kontio (guitar, Festerday, Magenta Harvest), Teemu Saari (guitar, Festerday), Kauko Kuusisalo (drums, Aegrus, Gloria Morti, Gorephilia), Antti Simonen (keyboards, Morian, ex-Alghazanth), Mathias Lillmåns (vocals, Dispyt, Festerday, Finntroll… ) and Pyry Hanski (bass, Before the Dawn, Gloria Morti, ex-Aeonian Sorrow…) are back with their new album, The Regeneration Itinerary.
After a few disquieting tones, Inertiae presents us with a wall of majestic sound that captivates us in no time, but synthetic tones take their place, then become more energetic. They end up blending with the imposing riffs to create a rather strange but fascinating sound, before giving way to Förnyelse i Tre Akter, where aggression wonderfully combines with leads and keyboards’ beauty. The vocal parts are as ferocious as ever, giving the rhythm its raw touch, becoming even more intense during the choruses, before adopting a savage coldness on Chromium Lungs, Bronze Optics, a composition where the electronic elements always seem to be present in the background. Mathias becomes even more plaintive on certain passages, but is also sometimes accompanied by airy backing vocals, before becoming much more virulent again on The Form and the Formless, where fury first meets a thick rhythm section, but which doesn’t hesitate to become softer before starting up again. After a brief respite, Prophetical Mercury Implement takes its place, stomping us mercilessly before offering lighter, more heady sounds, but also moments of intoxicating oppression. Despite its length, the track is perfectly paced, leading us after a noisy passage to The Fire in Which We Burn, which is both shorter and livelier, taking advantage of piercing harmonics to complete an already aggressive basis. The drums welcome us on The Ways of Sulphur, followed by the rest of the band determined to offer us a rather different experience, creating a rather dark, anguished sound coupled with jerky patterns, then I am Coin, I am Two follows, remaining in a rather similar anguished vein. However, there’s a certain slowness to the clear vocals of the opening moments, before the screams return accompanied by devastating riffs and grandiose keyboards, before Towards the Absence of Light adds the sound an epic touch. If the orchestrations are perfect to fill us with wonder, the more abrupt moments will color the sound differently before leading us to The Terminal Filter where we find without delay the fastest riffs and even some catchy Old School influences whether in the energetic patterns or the sharp leads.
The limited digibox version contains two additional tracks, the almost danceable Copper Blood, Titanium Scars, which perfectly manages to include more upbeat elements to its own darkness, which it sometimes makes more melancholy, but also The Discord Static, where the Industrial touches are much more present, making the track totally different from the rest of the album, but reviving some of the band’s old influences.
…and Oceans is more motivated than ever, and The Regeneration Itinerary also shows us that the band knows perfectly well how to draw the best from its roots to make a concentrate of darkness, rage, but also catchy tones.
90/100