The 2022 debut, “Different Kinds of Losses,” by the up-and-coming Finnish metal act, RIOGHAN, revolved around – as the title not-so-subtly suggested – different stories about loss. Now, the plot thickens with their sophomore full-length, set for release on February 14th, 2025 – Valentine’s Day, how appropriate! You see, the new album has an overarching theme of being kept in, by, or from something, hence the title, “Kept.” One thing has remained somewhat unchanged from the debut and it is the band’s knack for mixing diverse ingredients in their sonic concoction, ranging from Gothic to doom to ambient and whatnot. Just a couple of months ago, I saw RIOGHAN warm up for the Finnish prog-metal juggernaut, WHEEL, in Helsinki and my first impression of the band was pretty damn excited. Yeah, I sorely missed the bus when their debut came out. Still, that pristine live performance didn’t mentally prepare me for what was about to hit me in the shape of this new selection of songs.
“Dreams” opens the album with a haunting Blade Runner synth intro that soon evolves into a steamrolling off-kilter riffathon adorned with lush, atmospheric synth and vocal flourishes. Now, this is the proper way to open an album – a real gut punch of a banger! The song conveys a vibe of something like a female-fronted LONG DISTANCE CALLING injected with a heroic dose of modern prog-metal. Then, the atmospheric passages resonate with the air of those euphoric trance anthems from 20-something years ago. If this isn’t enough to make you fall in love with this band, I’m not sure what is.
The next few tracks push the sonic boundaries even further. First, the dazzling video single, “Hands,” resonates with the air of IN THIS MOMENT rather prominently. Yet, when vocalist Rioghan Darcy goes for the high register, it is almost as if British electronica queen Alison Goldfrapp were dropping her signature siren wailings atop some djenty riff origamis. Then, “Skin” does step into a rather trip-hop-esque electronic realm, although one with ample vocal layers added straight from the Steven Wilson songbook. I guess the band realized how goosebumpy this banger really is, since they released it as a single ahead of the album, too. The one-word song titles probably serve as some sort of sly reference to the emotional impact of each song or something because this one truly gets under your skin, just like the title suggests.
Likewise, the next track, “Edge,” delivers exactly what the title promises. Right off the bat, the song explodes with TESSERACT-like riffs and harsh vocals. Further into the song, the vocals take on a more hazy, dreamlike tangent, and I can’t help it – polyrhythmic djent riffs layered with atmospheric textures and angelic vocals just constitute a winning combo for me. I actually loved that legendary Lady–Gaga-and-MESHUGGAH mash-up from yesteryear – “Bleedarazzi,” remember? – and this beast here is probably the closest thing you can have to that.
From the fifth track onward, Vikram Shankar of SILENT SKIES features on keyboards and piano. Well, as it happens, Shankar is one of the most sophisticated musicians when it comes to keyboard melancholy, so I welcome this choice of collaborator with all my heart. His contribution elevates each song to a league of its own. First up, “Distance” is an atmospheric, electronica-infused song that recalls some of the most haunting work MASSIVE ATTACK has ever done. When the guitars enter with a beefy wall of distortion, vocalist Darcy drops pretty impressive ogre vocals, prompting me to think this marriage of trip-hop and metal is something that the German post-metal squad, THE OCEAN, would do.
Serving as a nice breather, “Hopes” is driven by the acoustic guitar, and I just can’t help it but strumming the acoustic in a 12/8 meter like this instantly triggers Steven Wilson and PORCUPINE TREE flashbacks. Okay, the accordion and violin motifs (courtesy of Netta Skog and Lotta-Maria Heiskanen) resolve that feeling later but, then again, it’s never a bad thing to pay homage to the greats if they are of such caliber. Considering that, next up, the orchestral flourishes that adorn the serpentine, almost math-rock stop-and-go riffs in “Motion” take a bow toward NIGHTWISH, you might think that, style-wise, things would be too much all over the place by now. Somehow RIOGHAN makes it work and they still maintain a tight grip of their unique sound. The melodic hook of “Motion,” reprised by the synth in the song’s coda, is pure eargasm material that might stick to your head for days.
By now, it’s pretty clear to me that this selection is destined to rank extremely well in 2025’s listings for the best Finnish metal albums – and there are still three more tracks to go. “Here” kicks off with a haunting, ambient intro, courtesy of Shankar. His minimal, yet powerful piano leads into a crushing riffathon, and the momentum is picked up by the quintuple delay ostinato in “Red.” The song is basically a 7-minute prog epic with nice polyrhythms in the coda.
Finally, “Grief” brings the album to a haunting close; the song is almost like a piano-driven requiem in which Shankar drops some heart-churning modal licks here and there, and on top of everything, a wailing synth line sweeps across the sonic landscape like the beacon of a lighthouse, almost as if to offer a shimmer of hope. There’s not much happening in the song, instrument-wise, but there’s all that the song needs. It’s a heart-wrenching exercise in evoking emotions with the less-is-more approach.
Pardon my French but fuck me sideways! We’ve barely made it through January and there are already two very strong candidates for the Album of the Year award when it comes to the Finnish metal releases. I reckon it is a good omen for 2025.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Dreams
- Hands
- Skin
- Edge
- Distance
- Hopes
- Motion
- Here
- Red
- Grief
Lineup
Rioghan Darcy – vocals
Teemu Liekkala – guitars, keyboards on tracks 3, 4, 7, and 9
Tero Luukkonen – guitars
Antti Varjanne – bass
Valtteri Revonkorpi – drums, percussion
Guest musicians:
Vikram Shankar – keyboards (tracks 5 – 8), programming (track 5), piano (tracks 8 – 10)
Aleksi Toppari – synth solo on track 7
Netta Skog – accordion on track 6
Lotta-Maria Heiskanen – violin on track 6
Label
Inverse Records
Links
https://rioghan.com
https://www.facebook.com/rioghandarcy
https://www.instagram.com/rioghandarcy
