Sammal - Suuliekki. 2018 Finland

Suuliekki is the 3rd album from the contemporary group Sammal, and in principle they might as well be from 1972. I've written about Sammal in the past, and along with Malady, they represent Finland proudly in the retro prog sweepstakes. Sammal are in the reproduction business, so anyone looking for new, modern, and cutting edge music, will have to look elsewhere. The band have completely immersed themselves into the mindset and culture of 1970 to 1975 Finland, and given that backdrop, continue to create new music within those confines. It's like a movie that's based on an historical event, and then the writers craft their own story within that event. All the tracks are sung in the native Finnish tongue, adding a very important - and much welcomed - authentic ingredient to the stew. As with all bands from Finland during that era, there are no sweeping prog epics, but rather a concise set of tunes, nothing clearing the 8 minute mark - and most shorter than that. If you're the type who cannot get enough of that fat analog production sound, along with the vintage keyboard setup, then Sammal are a band you'll want to add to your purchase stack. All 3 albums to date have proven to be satisfying, perhaps Suuliekki being the best yet. Sammal are for fans of the classic Finnish progressive rock sound such as Tasavallan Presidentti, Tabula Rasa, Nimbus, Fantasia, and Haikara.

CD: 2018 Svart. The CD comes in what I'd refer to as a cross between a a mini-LP and a digi-pak. It has the feel of the latter, and the size and layout of the former. Love the disc face, where Svart emulates the classic Brain logo font (in blue though, verse green). There's also a full booklet with band photos and lyrics. And yes, both in the native Finnish and translated English so most of us can know what they're singing about.

12/9/19 (new entry)