In the long bloodline of no-holds-barred prog-metal outfits, one of the most promising new acts comes from Helsinki, Finland. After winning the Tuska-Torstai competition in 2018, KEOMA has been steadily rising to prominence and now their album catalog sees its third independently released installment, set for release on January 24th, 2025. Suggestively entitled “A New Beginning?,” this new offering keeps pushing boundaries, mixing seemingly disparate musical influences in the same bowl, and marks the return of their original vocalist Jasse Jatala. The band likes to call their signature sound “hybrid metal” and I guess it is a bloody good epithet for describing their style; this six-piece has developed a knack for writing catchy and proggy bangers that reach outside the typical, perhaps at times somewhat cliqued prog-metal confines and into the more radio-friendly terrain. However, you probably won’t hear this bunch on the mainstream radio waves. The music of KEOMA is way too progressive to be squeezed into a nice 3-minute format but the prog connoisseur of the “Anything goes” school of thought will find their new album most rewarding.
One of the singles, the shortest track in this new selection, “Contact” does the honors of setting the journey in motion with a homage to the elders of the vintagey and hard-rockish prog pantheon – legends such as Arjen Lucassen. By short I mean 4 minutes, which is still quite a stretch in terms of mainstream radio play. Halfway into the song, when the layered vocal motif kicks in, the song begins to resonate with an almost FAITH NO MORE-esque aura from somewhere between “Angel Dust” and “King For A Day.” For us aging Gen-Xers with an inclination to all things prog, this is a rather masterful gambit. Well played, Sir, I would say.
The next two tracks comprise the 2-part prog suite, “Path,” with the first movement being entitled “Path I: Is This How You Pay?” This 8-minute prog buffet traverses knee-deep in the vintage sonic terrain, echoing the epic, “Gaia,” from the band’s previous album – minus the female lead vocals, of course. The phaser-drenched guitars resonate nicely with the air of Robin Trower‘s “Bridge of Sighs” and the Hammond chops put a bluesy frosting on the top. The mellow flow is punctuated with a few choice riffathons. Two songs into the new album, I cannot help but feel that KEOMA is now carrying the mighty torch left behind by the Finnish prog squad, RED NUMBER TWO, which was active around the Jyväskylä region in the early 2010s. I can only speak for myself, of course, but I’ve been kind of missing a band of this sort for some time. I have noticed already that not all online critics find this sort of every-flavor prog-bean very tasty but they are entitled to their wrong opinions by all means.
The second part, “Path II: On My Own, Where’s My Soul?,” offers another round of vintage-tinted prog, banging riffs, and a demonstration of Jatala‘s vocal range. His harsh vocals are pretty damn impressive, straight from the RIVERS OF NIHIL school of metal aesthetics. The band refrains from resorting to technical-metal quirks during these passages, though, so the effect is quite intriguing – me likes!
Next, “Some Kind Of A Builder” traverses somewhat similar waters to the fellow Finnish prog-metal rogues, PRESSURE POINTS, especially in the choruses. The verses add a nice touch of funk to the mix, recalling the once-popular conduct of many alternative acts from the 1990s. In those days, it wasn’t such a big deal to throw exotic flavors in the same mix, so it seems that KEOMA is perhaps a kindred spirit to the prog and alternative acts from 30 years ago rather than the algorithm-and-format-driven bands of this day and age.
You see, the plot only thickens further into the album. The title track kicks off with a rather TOOL-like intro, only to evolve into an 8-minute epic echoing EVERGREY and even SOILWORK, here and there. Oh, yes – this track, released as one of the singles ahead of the album, is by far that one, elongated pinnacle moment on the album. Just like its predecessor, “A New Beginning?” is a meticulously crafted and coherent selection of progressive metal but, still, the title track truly stands out as a flawless monolith of awesomeness. What is there not to like?
Before the album is brought to a close with two ballads, with the jazzy piano ballad, “Blood on the Piano,” being nothing short of a surprise jab below the belt, there is one more track to further confuse the average metal connoisseur. “Mutakuningas” is not only sung in Finnish but it also throws in some unexpected black-metal flourishes, traversing the sonic terrain somewhere between early AMORPHIS and ORANSSI PAZUZU.
So, if I thought I had these guys figured out when “Hypotheses” came out about 3 years ago, I was clearly wrong. The return of their singer, Jasse Jatala, truly seems to mark a new beginning for the band. Back then, KEOMA was not the easiest band to pigeonhole with a clean-cut label. Now, it is even harder – but that is exactly what makes these rogues sound so damn cool. This is one of those albums to put on immediately when one of your friends claims that he or she “listens to everything.” You shall see about that very shortly. Nope, this is not everyone’s cup of tea, for sure, but for those with an acquired taste for “everything” – and I really mean everything with no conditions and terms applying whatsoever – this album will be a real treat.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Contact
- Path I: Is This How You Pay?
- Path II: On My Own, Where’s My Soul?
- Some Kind Of A Builder
- A New Beginning
- Mutakuningas
- Hidden Things
- Blood on the Piano
Lineup
Jasse Jatala – lead vocals
Eero Saikku – guitars, backing vocals
Jaakko Saloranta – bass, backing vocals
Jaakko Stenius – guitars
Sampo Vesa – synths, noise
Sami Lönnberg – drums
Label
Independent
