| This is the highly-anticipated second full-length release on Fonal Records from Finland's Paavoharju, a collective formed around two brothers -- Lauri and Olli Ainala and their troupe of associates. The group is a collective project of ascetic born-again Christians. Laulu Laakson Kukista (A Song About Flowers of the Valley) evokes the sounds of raindrops falling on a sheet metal roof melting together with an old television's random dot-pattern noise. Backwards pianos, backwards vocals, tilted organ and baroque beats lean against sweeping operatic soundscapes and gossamer back-porch folk singalongs. Leena Uotila's soft voice echoes in empty, dusty rooms. Cat-owls gather to the skies, apple trees are blooming and waves rock a barrel against the pier. Suddenly all this started to form esoteric mildew to cassette's magnetic tape. Sources of inspiration include Tuote Savonlinna, Saimaa, Miekkoniemi, Tove Jansson, Caspar David Friedrich, John Bauer, William Blake, Hugo Simberg, The Shadows, Burzum, Spede Pasanen, Boards Of Canada, luola, Es, Tapio Rautavaara, Raamattu, Deaf Center, Ville Leinonen, lo-fi, Portishead, Joose Keskitalo, Winsor McCayn, Pikku Nemo, Miasmah, Ingmar Bergman, Deathspell Omega, Ragnar Rock, and Ed Gein. Mind-bending devotional rock-opera from the deepest Finnish forests. |
