Hopeajarvi – S/T



I've been really feeling as though I'm in a rut with the music I've been listening to.  I've mentioned it before, but between writing for The Ripple Effect and doing a weekly radio show devoted to metal, I listen to a LOT of music, mostly metal.  And a lot of what I listen to is pretty generic, by the numbers kind of metal.  I tend to like a wide variety of music as well.  For whatever reason, I keep trying to listen to something different, but it all sounds the same lately.  Until I stumbled across this little gem, that is.

Hopeajarvi are a band from Finland.  They are most definitely not a metal band.  All of their song titles and lyrics are in Finnish, so I have absolutely no idea what any of what I just listened to is all about.  All I really know is that this music really speaks to me in the language of music, and I really, really dig this.

What do they sound like?  Well, let's start with The Mars Volta, a band that I adore.  Now imagine them doing everything, as I mentioned, in Finnish.  Then drop a little bit of the chaos out of the music, no bizarro time signature changes or instrumentation.  Make it a little more punky in terms of the song structures and lengths, with a dash of good old 80's new wave kind of feel.  I think that is about as good as I can describe it for you.  And it really hits the spot for me.

In terms of album length this really isn't much more than an EP.  It is a debut effort, and a very good one at that.  There are seven songs that all clock in around the 3 minute mark.  Just good, concise song writing, well performed and sung.  Definitely music, though, that is greater than the sum of its parts.  To paraphrase the great Robert Plant, I don't know what it is that I like about this, but I like it a lot.  I was going to say that it really grows on you, but I liked it immediately.  How much I like it has certainly grown with repeated listening.

If you're in the mood for something a little different, check this band out.  They have some good stuff going on and I hope there is more to come in the future.  I will definitely be on the lookout for more.

 - ODIN




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