Yearning - Merging Into Landscapes (2007)

When one looks back over the career of Yearning, one sees an extremely compact and consistent body of work which seemed intent on providing the fan a real value. No EPs, no hack singles, no live albums, and no compilations exist to bilk the listener, simply five full-length efforts of merit. This finite productivity will of course be attributed to the recent passing of the songwriter, the sole force behind the band from birth to demise: Juhani Palomäki, but wherever he is these days, he can at least rest assured knowing that he's not got some regrettable release polluting the lives of his survivors.

Merging Into Landscapes was the fifth and final of these works, and to be honest, it's a relief it ever actually came about. T. Kristian, the other long term face behind Yearning had departed post-Evershade, and it took a spell for Juhani to meet up with another, Aki Kuusinen. In addition, the deal with Holy Records had been severed, and the band were seeing diminished returns of attention with each album (not for lack of quality or trying). Well, thankfully the two parties came into agreement, and Holy would issue this one final album. Good taste and loyalty from a record label? I can't imagine it's all that common, but it's not the only welcome return here: Lady Tiina once again contributed her faery vocals to the mix, and as upon Plaintive Scenes, they are not abused in the slightest, seeking only to compliment Juhani's cleans and grunts.

This album is not a long haul from the sounds of Evershade, though the production feels a little brighter here, and thus not really as cool in the end. The material is adequate and well written, but it's probably my least favorite of all the Yearning efforts. There are some highlights: the glowing power of "Sphere of Disgust", the subdued folk gone progressive doom of the "Lethean Waters", and of course the classic melancholic strut of "The Dying Morn". However, the crunching rhythms, big bass and vocals of "Return" greatly made for the most memorable track.

I also enjoyed a number of the intros and interludes, in particular the haunting ambient prog of "Datura Stramonium" with the brief, almost narrative voice (which sound as if they may be in French, but are pretty distant). As the final song on the final release of Yearning's career, the epilogue "Nemo ante mortem beatus" is sufficiently crushing doom with a sodden, melodic spin, though it doesn't stand to memory.

Merging into Landscapes serves as an eerie premonition, for this band has truly diluted into the mass metal breeding pits, gone with nary a trace of credit or reputation. By this time, Juhani was busy with his other band Colosseum, who in their short stead developed much greater scene buzz than Yearning had mustered since the 90s, and perhaps that affected the overall quality of this last grande finale. Though it doesn't end the band on its strongest note, the album is still user friendly to anyone that has followed their previous output, and in some places pretty darn good. It's clear from both his projects that Juhani Palomäki was a pretty talented writer and musician, and he will be missed by those of us who took the time to appreciate his works. But I feel like Yearning is good enough to last us until that next world. Oblivion calls, after all...

Maybe it's about time you listened to its song.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (this poison lake where I wade)

http://www.myspace.com/finyearning

Yearning - Evershade (2003)

After three pretty great records, in particular Plaintive Scenes and Frore Meadow, my expectations were just about tearing through the roof for whatever the band could pull through the ether next. Sadly, their fourth album Evershade arrived with no fanfare whatsoever. The band was decidedly still a studio two-piece, with just Juhani and T. Kristian from the debut's lineup, and the cover art here was bland and uninspiring, a huge departure from the band's catalog to this point (the debut cover was very 'simple' and natural, but strangely iconic nonetheless). Perhaps all budgets were down the drain here, and the band was struggling to even scrape together something to continue their relationship with Holy Records.

Thankfully, the musical content of Evershade is quite a bit more amusing than its skin. It's subtle and atmospheric, dark and flowing, very much streamlined with the material I so enjoyed on Frore Meadow, if less memorable in the end. This is still moody, morose Gothic/doom metal with a heavy use of keyboards to present string sections and organs over the extremely sorrow choked guitar torments, and a solid, percussive performance from T. Kristian, perhaps his best work throughout all of Yearning's catalog. The tracks are mutually heavy and haunting, and there is no lack of ideas being thrown about to ensure they don't become a perpetual mockery of themselves, a gloom cookie sucking its thumb and slitting its wrist in the corner.

"Aureole" is a great example of an ear-catching but familiar melodic pattern tended with an enhanced atmosphere courtesy of the cautious, measured orchestrations, sure to win the heart of anyone that had been following this band from the debut effort. "Statues Amidst a Frozen Sand of Time" is lush, tense and aggressive as the cascades of wailing guitar melody soar across a wintry landscape of muted crimson and silver audio hues. "Deathbearer" benefits from some fascinating, lurching guitars that surge against more punchy, melodic fills and an overbearing sadness. 11+ minute finale "A Day When the World Started to Weep" is theatrically epic by definition, creating a larger than life scene perfect for the death of any major screen character or conscience.

Yet, it's the odd and perk title track which really stands out on this album. The guitar chords come crashing after the plucky, graceful pre-verse segment, and like so many other tracks on this record, it feels like a slow descent into a drugged state of sadness, or like looking through your regrets through a snow globe. The celebration of melancholy that is Evershade is arguably more consistent than the band's prior works, and as always, pretty original when compared to the vast host of boring, repetitious 'doom' metal acts who empty the purses of fools by simply copping an image and performing hideously boring, awkward music that displays a clear lack of talent and focus (i.e. almost every My Dying Bride/Anathema impersonator on the blue earth).

There are a few tracks here which I didn't find much fawning over, namely "Contemplation" and "Conditio Humana", but even these are rock solid in the context of the overall recording, and thus this is another robust, 50 minute offering the enlightened fan can sit straight through a number of occasions, none the worse for wear aside from having his/her emotions castrated in the most melodic and beautiful of rituals. Yearning was still very much alive by this 2003 period; or rather, prolonging its death by sharing its message of melancholy with those few still willing to tune in.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (wreath yourself to pale and lifeless bliss)

http://www.myspace.com/finyearning

Yearning - Plaintive Scenes (1999)

At least for their first three records, Yearning were surprisingly adept at acquiring cover images/art that stirred both the imagination and the desire for the band's graceful calls of woe. Plaintive Scenes is their sophomore effort, and quite fascinating on the surface, with the possible exception of the logo choice, which sticks out a little. Still, I'd be lying to claim this were anything but an attractive digipak, even despite the band's awkward picture posing within. The faces are powdered and prettied, but it seems a number of the members don't want to be there, save the shaven headed drummer who seems right at home in his chosen posture.

The contents of the album are equally fantastic, as the band had undergone a slight transformation since the epic anguish of With Tragedies Adorned. Not so much of lineup, as the band did not lose a member here so much as gain one: Lady Tiina Ahonen, who performed the session flutes on the debut, became a more permanent fixture for this effort, and the group is joined by another session musician, Hensku on the oboe. Stylistically, it picks up where the debut off, but transmutes the band's joys and agonies into a denser, more freely flowing progressive fixture varied enough that this might just be one of the best things your average Opeth fan has never heard of when seeking out sounds similar to his/her select Swedish pantheon.

If anything, this is a more Romantic outing, as proven through the rapture of the opening track "Naïveté", in which Juhani's improved, soothing vocals are joined by a calamity of proggish synthesizers, lamented guitar lines, thankfully near-mute faerykind vocals, and a glorious, crashing momentum that survives all its meandering visions. "Unwritten" is a natural conclusion with some schizophrenic twists courtesy of a mass asylum exodus under a full moon, becoming ever more beautiful as the passages wind and unwind, the guitar twisted through chugs and strong open chords while the 'orchestration' transfixes the mental eye to a wave of euphoria. "Grey" is more playful, with a deep vocal line that hides behind the churning of the chords, resonant clean tones and the shimmering of sparse bands of tiny lead melodies.

Curtains stay shut forever
Some have said it is like pain
Colours fade and their meaning
Is like life itself

Speaking of twists and turns, "Soliloquy" is one of the choice moments on the album, through its spiraling mesh of beautiful acoustic guitars, excellent vocals that prove Juhani had come a long way from the debut, and mesmerizing guitar melodies that are quite easily the equal of anything on Opeth's Still Life (a great album, don't get me wrong). "Plaintive Scenes" starts with a raging melodic death metal line performed at mid-pace before the band ventures off into a bold, assertive lamentation; and "Soliloqui II" explores even more far-out territory, notably the mystique written into the guitars and the dual vocal breakdown that erupts around 2:50. I did not hear that coming! "Eyes of the Black Flame" is another success, with a beautiful flute line cast above its graying synth lines, morose vocals stretching off into suffering strings. The closing instrumental "Nameless" is likewise pretty epic, the band using its typical broad strokes to balance glorious, almost 80s new wave pop synths over slowly chugged guitars and a massive synthesized downturn.

Before listening to this record this week for the review, I held this about level in quality with With Tragedies Adorned, but clearly its increased complexity and vision render it somewhat more valuable in the long term. The debut did have a few songs that felt ridden with a few moments of filler, but this is quite astounding throughout, even if its ingredients are not the most catchy individually. Now I'd have to recommend a microscope to see the very fine thread by which this hangs below the following Frore Meadow. If you're in the market for some classy, progressive Gothic/doom metal, there are few efforts in the past decade I would recommend more swiftly than this.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10] (the kingdom of the end)

http://www.myspace.com/finyearning

Yearning - With Tragedies Adorned (1997)

Holy Records out of France was one of my favorite labels in the mid through late 90s, as they had a good ear for signing acts of rare qualities that had enormous potential. Septic Flesh, Supuration, Legenda, Orakle and Tristitia were among the bands they helped break across the underground, and in 1997 they took a little chance on a new Finnish act who performed in a style not common to the day, a morose twist of Gothic, doom and folk metal with unusual depth despite its accessibility. I speak of course of Juhani Palomäki's Yearning, a band that pressed on for 14 years despite the lack of attention received, until its creator's untimely passing earlier this year. Even Juhani's later band, the more extreme Colosseum quickly surpassed this in public interest. So, let this be an elegy. Let this latest attempt at clawing through his discography pay a silent tribute, no matter how unflattering my own skill with words.

Scenes of nature are not uncommon among the chronicles of black, doom and folk metal, but With Tragedies Adorned has always stuck out to me for some reason. Perhaps the tint of the original CD case itself, as it plays on the sun-pierced profile of a tree, whilst a hippie font looks on. It's quaint, and perhaps even amateurish, yet stunningly, this picture somehow manages an iconic capture of the album's aural contents. The seasonal shifting of the riffs, and the lyrical matter might stray from purely environmental strains, but this makes for the perfect listen on an autumn afternoon, alone, reflecting on the past or ruing the present, with or without the assistance of controlled substances. It's also an album whose few flaws actually work in its favor, and I speak largely of Juhani's vocals.

There was really little to compare them to in the late 90s. Yearning sound very little like Anathema, or My Dying Bride, or Paradise Lost, and yet their every bit as sobering. The lead, melodic vocals are almost flat to a fault, with a deep drawl to them that betrays the man's accent while evoking tremendous pain and grief. These are offset with solid quality death growls that remind heavily of another Finnish band, Amorphis, used effectively when the mood is appropriate. It's almost uncanny, really, because there are moments on this album where i feel Palomäki was certain to drop key, yet he seems to hover right at the edge.

Poetry aside, the style of the band could best be described as a blend of soaring, melodic doom carefully clothed in flutes and synthesizers, unafraid to explore a variety of tempos, but sticking largely to a slow or mid pace through which the vocals can emit the most effective and spacious impact. For most of this lineup, Yearning was their first proper outlet into the metal scene. Drummer T. Kristian would progress to play in bands like Thyrane and Saattue, and Tero Kalliomäki would join him in Saattue, but here you've got an imaginative group of guys giving a passionate and polished performance, rounded out by 'Mr. Woodland' Petri Salo's gradual, somber bass lines, and its difficult to dislike anything about this band's sincerity.

If there's anything 'tragic' about this album, aside from its mental setting, it's that not all of the songs are wholly consistent to sufficiently back up its stronger pieces. "The Temple of Sagal" transplants a huge, bluesy guitar rhythm into a mellowing, atmospheric corridor of graceful chugging and vibrant synthesizers, melancholic descending vocal melodies, and I truly love the climactic melodies that enter at about 5:00 and take us out. "Bleeding for Sinful Crown" uses a dual vocal line to transport the listener into an archaic, glorious word obscured in history. "Release" features an excellent intro where Mr. Woodland's underspoken bass line soothes a sequence of teary guitar melodies, from acoustic to electric, before Juhani's damning, downward vocals enter the portrait.

But it is "In the Hands of Storm" which TRULY takes the cake on this album, and possibly any other Yearning effort. A saccharine, super atmospheric piece with an unforgettable flow to its verse-chorus patterns, it is among the more graceful doom metal I've ever had the pleasure to listen through, and remains a go-to track to cure any annoying, sunny weather day. The way the guitars weave below the vocal in the chorus has had me creaming doom in whatever unfortunate garment I happen to be wearing for the past 12+ years. That's a lot of awkward trips to the dry cleaner!

In the hands of storm he is purified
Searching for the sound from the ancient lakes
Heavens open now, clouds are raining blood
This might be the one, our final doom

When the vocal arrives at the growl around 3:00, one simply shake his or her fist at the sky and scream YESSSSSS! "In the Hands of Storm" sets such a high water mark for this record that it's left to the nearly 17 minute finale "Canticum" to try and equal its charms, and though it tries quite hard, it doesn't quite arrive, though we are treated to numerous, gloomy segues bristling with swelling atmospheres, down-trodden guitars and slight piano/synth melodies. As for the rest of the album, it's not quite at the same level, though consistent enough for the experience. You could listen straight through "Remnants of the Only Delight" and not feel robbed of the record's weight, or the more 'uplifting' intro to "Flown Away" which picks up to a pace akin to the verse of "Temple of Sagal". "Haze of Despair" is a solid, crushing piece that parts into some flowing, folksy melodic rock interspersed with sure stepping doom.

Not all Yearning songs are created equal, but there is nothing in this hour of shimmering depression which I'd necessarily skip, unless I was making a line straight to the album's obvious highlight. I was crushed by this performance when I was first exposed to it, and though a good friend of mine had purchased it (on a joint trip to a nearby metal specialty CD shop), I soon worked out a trade that I could hold it in my own grasp and covet its secrets. The album does fall somewhat short of a masterpiece, and in truth it is no longer my favorite Yearning effort, but all the same it's a near seamless debut that affords one a glimpse into this band's broad palette of sorrow.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10] (this is all too much)

http://www.myspace.com/finyearning

Yearning - Frore Meadow (2001)

Yearning is just one of those survivor bands: their releases continue to arrive across the years, but with little fanfare. The line-up has been stripped to just multi-instrumentalist Juhani Palomäki these days, but was once a pretty functional, full band. A lot of you might know Juhani from his more recent band, Colosseum. I should also point out that all of their albums have been good. The core crooning and flowing melodic gothic/folk/doom of With Tragedies Adorned (debut) had been highly refined by the point of 2001's Frore Meadow, and this particular album stands as my favorite release from the group.

I'd urge the listener to take a long look at the cover art, focus in on the visions of pale moon-bathed landscapes and take an internal sojourn through fantastic forests. A soundtrack has been provided to dive into such activities. "Bleak" opens the tale with a driving stream of melancholic chords which should be an immediate turn-on for any fan of mid-period Katatonia, Rapture, or Daylight Dies. The vocals employed carrier a folksier edge than those bands, but the structure is similar. The forward momentum of its metallic riffs is often broken by brief melodic interviews using synths, acoustics, etc, but it comes together nicely. "Solitary" employs a dour acoustic melody below the verse, becoming metallic only later in the piece. "Autumn" is an EXCELLENT track, the best on this album and perhaps my favorite Yearning composition period. A melody both glorious and creepy soars over a sequence of chugging, slowed gothic/doom guitars. The vocals are perfect on this track, and it's ever sliding down the downward spiral of despair it creates. This would be difficult to follow-up, but "The Fall" is also quite good, with its deep vocal tones ringing over the driving, catchy chords. "Years of Pain" is an extended piano/synth piece which creates a worthwhile vista amidsts its metal brethren.

Next, the album trots out a trio of shorter tunes. "Forsaken" starts with a nice clicky drum beat. "Frore Meadow" is a beautiful instrumental with some synthesized flutes. "The Race" has a nice vocal melody to it. "Elegy of Blood" picks up in length, a flowing gothic doom track with some scintillating pipe organ tones, mostly instrumental though Juhani's distinct throat erupts in the middle. "In Strange Slowfooted Fever" is another piano/synth track, with a soundtrack feel to it, think Danny Elfman but with Juhani's vocals present. The album closes with a long but sweet dark ambient piece, the rumbling "Disappearance".

While there is nothing actually bad here, I do wish the focus had been on the songs like "Autumn" or "The Race". It seems much of the 2nd half of the album consists of instrumentals or shorter songs, shall we say more 'experimental' than anything they had done before this. Granted, I enjoyed each of these tracks, but it feels like a loss of momentum. "Autumn" is just such a great song. Pound for pound, Frore Meadow is still my favorite full-length from this underappreciated Finnish band. Despite the often irregularity of its components, its still a distinct and creative vision that I have enjoyed down through the years. The album sounds great whether its striding along in gothic metal grace or lush synth work.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10] (Gone with freezing rain)

http://www.myspace.com/finyearning