I love the word resilience; the meaning is generally one of toughness, sacrifice and courage. The Finns have a name for that it is called ‘sisu’. I enjoyed the 2021 debut “Disconnection Complete” , kicked it up even higher with 2023’s “Future Impact of Past Diversions”, so I have little doubt , this new opus will shine even brighter in my collection. Tomi Kankainen is an extremely gifted multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, painstaking both in his technical skills as well as conceptual originality, carving himself a name in prog. Tomi is aided here with drummer Martino Malacrida. The emerald-green cover art instantly had me medicated in advance of settling into my keyboard and typing.
The album is sandwiched between two epic pieces , with seven shorter (4-5 minutes) pieces acting as the stuffing. “Maintain the Uncertainty” accesses a decidedly synthesizer-based bombast, where the razor-honed guitars act as an added layer of depth, Malacrida instantly stamping his stomping detonations on top of the vocal line. Mind-numbing pounding, a relentless sense of ambiguous retention, certainly doomed to impress even the most hesitant mind and letting ‘the chaos be the key’! One thing is for sure amid all this insecurity, the blistering effect is tectonic.
The next few tracks could be perceived as a suite of pieces that ‘fill the void’, the pugnacious nature of the rhythmic foundation keeps every moment , as if on the edge of imbalance, occasionally elevating into a next level of punishment and then collapsing into a pool of reflective thought. “Conjuring Conflict” sets the wheels of discourse in motion, gravitating to the less imperious “Sea of Irrelevance “, where the atmosphere settles into a volatile utopia, surely a succinct comment on the sign of the present times, Tomi’s bass causing a fair amount of havoc. We are possibly close to Riverside territory, as the melodic onslaught is fraught with cataclysmic explosion, a story told in painfully melancholic terms. In the end, after running out of potential targets, we can always “Blame Gravity” for all the ills of the universe. Everyone has an often-worthless opinion on the problem, but never a single word on any potential solution. Are we moving forward or returning to caves? Skirting on the outer edges of prog-metal, truth be told , Confusion Field remains a boldly resilient and hyper melodic alternative to lazy facility. When the guitar chooses to screech in anguish, it does so with little afterthought or regret, ‘just coming out of the blue’.
As tasty as this has been up to now, there is a sudden upswing in terms of sonic pleasure. With questioning ears, the magnificent “Is That All” proposes a momentary lapse of reason, as the brooding melody arches serenely with reverence and drama, a somewhat cosmic feel that may even recall classic Eloy. The drums hit hard, a synthesizer beeping discreetly, as the question travels deep into space, where revelations await the inquisitive mind. A stunning track. “A New Code” preserves the electronic mood to perfection, though supplemented with just more bluster, as if changing gears and ready to penetrate the distant core. Once again, the insidious bass guitar does the intense digging, the voice drifting overhead, waiting for the massed riffs to propel the warp speed controls. Heavy prog with cerebral efficiency (the ‘sisu’ effect).
Okay then, enough with the pretty stuff, time to liberate the pent-up anger and blow the stage into a million shards. “The Echo Collector” is not only heavy, but also a bulldozer on a rampage, bulbous molten-lava bubbles and unforgiving menace, seeping deep into both the body and the brain. Obsessive and dark as the oceans and seas part in the advance towards some forbidden region. The symphonic “Restricted Area” is the afterglow that comes after so much exertion, a swooning interstellar lullaby, a close cousin of “Is That All”, that shines brightly on the quality of song structure as well as attention to detail and pace.
“Graceful Deceit” I fully agree with my esteemed colleague Matti mentioning the Simple Minds similitude with the trebling synths, as this final masterstroke perfectly summarizes all of the emotions presented above, it’s what a decisive conclusion should always be! A brooding recollection of a classic Hawkwind piece :
“The golden void speaks to me
Denying my reality
I lose my body, lose my mind
I blow like wind, I flow like wine
Down a corridor of flame
Will I fly so high again
Is there something wrong with me
I cannot hear, I cannot see
Down a corridor of flame”
The Golden Void
I am definitely not confused by any stretch of my quasi-panoramic imagination; this is a project that has plainly arrived! Goodbye Riverside (for now) and hello Confusion Field.
4.5 Spirit remnants