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“Bastards”.... Of course I´ve nothing against the mothers of Tyko Saarikko, Ilmari Issakainen and Ilkka Salminen, the three entities behind Tenhi. On the contrary, I deeply thank them for bringing those lifes to the world. Yes, Tenhi have surmounted the lofty boundaries once set on cloud ninety-nine with previous releases and have woven another astounding tapestry with their own brand of eerie music again. Music that drains your feelings and turn them into sound: that is “Maaäet” for me. Just a touch... the touch... THEIR touch... These guys are uniquely gifted. The listener is compelled to behold the notes, ellegantly decadancing and dripping like tiny pearls of water falling from leaves, in the aftermath of a Finnish gentle rain. Take a single song alone and let it drive your spirit miles away with its mere instrumentation as a weapon and those shamanic echoes led by fantastic voices, almost abysmal at times. Tenhi grin with malice towards any kind of label, be it neofolk, dark folk or folk noir, reluctant to be categorised under a single line; their music is too elusive to be described with a couple of cheap words, in spite of their more or less acceptable membership to those styles. Pastoral, silvester, descriptive, melancholical, reflective dark folk; “Maaäet” is the sonic bas-relief of Finnish wilderness. You can literally listen to Nature itself, the vast moors, the untrodden infinity of the woods, the frostbitten waters. Their breath perceived in the songs. Every nuance is finely nurtured, visually and artistically talking. The delicate lyrics and their careful, lithe translations; the velvet-like sound of the album; the pictures and layout.
At this point, I must underline the only detail which made the aesthetic concept of “Maaäet” fail: in the first pressing of the booklet, the layout was totally wrong, mixing different parts of pictures and mistaking the right place of pages. Prophecy Productions told the customers to send them an e-mail to have replaced their faulty booklets. By the way, right now we are towards the end of March and Prophecy Productions still haven´t sent the correct booklets to some people who requested... Anyway, I´ve got the ideal picture of the whole in my head and I can state without a doubt the symbiosis between music and visual art is awesome. While “Väre” was an excellent album, “Maaäet” soars up higher and exhibits an insultable musical gesture and attitude, far away from stablished conservative minds and typical rock structures and patterns, reaching plenty of moments which could be defined as close to perfection. Feel caressed by the thunderous melodies adorning “Varpuspäivä”; let “Kuoppa” show you its splendid violins and mesmeric rhythmic vocals; drown in “Sarastuskävijä”, which brings back to the fore the already mythical piano performing melodies beyond the realms of death. All the instruments are gathered to conform a collection of astonishing songs; varied, rich, lush for the ears. My awkward words won´t be enough and will only make you dizzy. To download this album from the Internet and not buying it in case you´ve been hooked by its spell, is an exercise of stupidity; to miss the whole artistic expression through lyrics and the booklet –leave aside the wrong repressing- is a clear lack of respect towards the authors. To love this album and to have it spoiled and crippled under the mp3 format in the coldness of a hard disk, is enough to rot in Tuonela eternally. Because “Maaäet” is already a milestone of the genre. This is my first ten out of ten, so nothing more to add.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Varpuspäivä |
| 2. Kuoppa |
| 3. Kuulut Kesiin |
| 4. Salain |
| 5. Viimeiseen |
| 6. Vähäinen Violetissa |
| 7. Sarastuskävijä |
| 8. Maa Syttyy |
| 9. Tuulenkaato |
| 10. Aatos |
| 11. Uuvu Oravan |
| 12. Rannalta Haettu |
: 60.20
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