Huminoita is a band that finds its roots in the heart of Finland. A band that cannot be described as traditional, for as far we can speak of traditional when post rock is what we're talking about. These Finnish guys have passed the boundaries of regular post rock, played with the appropriate instruments like drum, bass and guitars. Huminoita's base surely is the aforementioned genre, but lots of their influences come from genres like stoner, psychedelic rock and jazz. The band consists of Ville Mäkäräinen on guitar, flute and vocals, Timo Keränen, guitar and percussion, Ville Märkinen on bass and Jonne Ketola as drummer. Matti Salo is the band's saxophone and keyboards player. Huminoita's self-titled debut album was released in 2010 and the year 2015 marks the release of their second album; All Is Two. An album that guests Laura Lehtola on vocals during three compositions and Oula Karppinen plays trumpet on one song. All Is Two is a relatively short album that holds six compositions that can be seen as instrumental. Sure, Ville Mäkäräinen is indicated as the band's vocalist, but his vocals combined with Laura's voice are shamanistic vocal harmonies, without real lyrics or even words, just to create a suiting atmosphere to the compositions. At first the psychedelic post rock, still gives you the feeling you are listening to a fairly regular band in the genre, nice guitar solo's over mesmerising rhythms and with the wordless vocals the retro feel has been set. Especially the Hammond organ sounding keyboards take you back in time. Close to the end of the albums opener The Sheriff the saxophone appears, giving the song more depth and certainly adds something to the music. The first tunes of Hymn 23 take you back to the times the Led Zeppelin frequently was spotted in the air, but with the relaxed guitars and “vocals” the song takes another turn towards the genres described above. A perfect song that blends two worlds is the outcome. The Pilgrim is another special song, a playful rhythm, filled with nice guitar melodies and a stunning wah-wah part, gives room to the sax and flute to embed their instruments deep into the music, working their way to a high, finishing with of John Paul Jones reminding keyboards at the end. King Of Hearts is the band's pièce of résistance, a ten minute walk through different spheres and moods. All kept basic and relaxed, never really over the top. My personal favourite song is kept to finish the album; Hymn 24 is basic, almost minimalistic and über relaxed, just simple melodies and a smooth guitar solo taking the album to the end. With an increasingly growing genre as post rock, now and then something special raises its head and stands above the others. Huminoita differs from the others by the use of other instruments and certainly in the way the fine compositions are written. I wished more bands would take the challenge and be different, especially when it comes to the post rock genre, where sometimes it is hard to tell one band from the other. **** Pedro Bekkers (edited by Astrid de Ronde) Where to buy? |
