Sammal

The Finnish language is notoriously one of the most difficult languages to learn and understand. It’s not hard on the ear, like some, it’s just almost impossible to discern a familiar word. That however, should not detract from the enjoyment of this EP by Sammal, who have decided that they’ll sing entirely in the own language.

Opening with the new track Vankina Varisten you get great straight to the nub. This is gloriously retro: all Hammonds, bobbing bass and heavy guitar, with a fresh production that just about manages to retain those past sounds. Their keyboard sound does bring to mind The Doors more often that not, though Tuuli Kuljetta is more in the early 70’s heavy rock sphere. Their cover of Aphrodite’s Child’s Magic Mirror, translated into Finnish as Peilin Taikaa, as expected has a fuller sound otherwise they haven’t really added much to it.

More interesting is Neito Maan’s chugging Southern rock riff, deftly blended with the organ giving us a hybrid of familiar sounds that neatly click into place. The EP closes with Tahdelle Kuolemaan a gentler cruiser of a track that offers up some subtle guitar and nifty harmonies.

This EP doesn’t contain entirely new material, consisting of three old demos and the aforementioned cover. But having never heard any of it before it was all new to me, and highly enjoyable it was too.