Just the other day, Finnish quantum proggers ODDLAND released another single heralding a successor to their magnificent 2022 album “Vermilion.” As if the first single, “Eternal Erode,” didn’t already hype me up for the anticipation of a new album a while back, this new video single, entitled “Freefall,” sure charges the air with yet another thick layer of anticipation. The music video is compiled of footage from the band’s recent tour with the Swedish melancholy proggers, SOEN, and the song’s haunting mixture of djenty polyrhythms and Slavic melancholy manages to tug your heartstrings with somewhat similar antics to those wistful Swedes; the song sure makes me feel bummed for not having been able to catch these prog ruffians on stage since 2015! (Funnily enough, the last time I saw them live, they also shared the bill with SOEN…)
There is something in the song’s manner of mixing off-kilter riffs, subtle jazz vibes, and plaintive vocal melodies that harkens right back to the band’s haunting 2012 debut. If my memory serves me right, the album was greeted with somewhat mixed reviews at the time, but, in retrospect, it has proved to have been nothing short of a world-shattering entry to the Finnish prog-metal scene. That said, the mileage gathered over the years also shines through in this new song; the band’s flawless execution and songwriting that just seems to get better and better. These guys seem to age like fine wine – except that the intoxication from over-indulging in the band’s music never comes with a hangover afterwards. Back in January, while reviewing SARA‘s new album, I had a premonition that it would take nothing less than ODDLAND‘s new album to tilt that beast from the Best Finnish Metal Album of the Year pedestal. If this song is anything to go by, ODDLAND‘s upcoming album, to be released via their label Frontiers Records, is very likely to do just that.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
