Tomsk-7
Ihmisennahkaa
Antiaine
Essence
Kehät
Kolminaisuus
Vainohulluus
Periplaneta A.
Ikkunan takana
Insects (featuring Aprox.)

Älymystö is a quartet from Finland made up of: Mr. Vuorensola - vocals, lyrics; Mr. Honkonen - theremin, lyrics; Mr. Paalanen - guitars, loops; and Mr. Haapanen - programming. Though these guys are my Nordic neighbors, i don't have much of anything on their background. It seems that they do a lot of live playing around the Baltic and this is evidenced in the strength of the performances on the recording on review here. "Atomgrad" is fifty-four minutes of substantial soundtracks/soundprints of places you should hope to never see. This conscientious production is wonderfully atmospheric and evocative.

For the most part, the CD is very industrial while at the same time displaying a sense of elegance and refinement not common to the industrial genre. Nice. The voice is used more as a texture here bypassing its traditional role as centerpiece around which all else is a little more than a frame. And the guitar, wow. Not just your garden variety grunge and grind here. Lots of absorbing colors and textures. Mr. Paalanen even dares to venture into the realm of "conventional" guitar. As on the tracks 'Kehät' and 'Insects' (which rides on a great Country Blues guitar loop that begs for development).

JPW