Tuonen Tytär II        8/10

By N. Lynn

The first volume of Tuonen Tytär (translated: Death's Daughter) was a tribute to Finnish progressive rock of the 1970s released in 2000 by Colossus (The Finnish Progressive Music Association's magazine) and Mellow Records from Italy.  Since then, Colossus has teamed up with French label Musea, releasing a number of similar compilations (Kalevala, Inferno, The Spaghetti Epic), leading up to this release. 

Tuonen Tytär II features 31 different bands from around the world.  18 of the bands are from Finland, three each from the United States and Italy, with a pair from Venezuela.  The rest of the lineup is rounded out by bands from Sweden, The Netherlands, Hungary, England, and Argentina.  Some of the songs are in Finnish, but it's not necessary to know the language in order to appreciate the songs – it would help though.  In addition, Jinetes Negros' cover of Nova's “Atlantis” features lyrics in Spanish.  The rest of the lineup is rounded out by songs in English and instrumentals.

A few of the bands covered on the first installment are revisited; Wigwam, Finnforest, Tabula Rasa and Kalevala being the more frequently honored this time around.  Of the contributing bands, Haikara, Scarlet Thread and Overhead are the only ones returning.  Haikara's contribution, "Yksi Maa - Yksi Kansa" (translated: “One Nation - One People” or “One Land & One Nation”, depending on source) is a re-recorded version of one of their own songs and is a repeat from the first volume, offered here as a bonus track.  It's a pretty good song (I'm not very familiar with the original, I must admit), but I still have to wonder why it's repeated here, and why Haikara is doing a Haikara song on a tribute album.

Most of the songs here don't really sound dated, a testament to elements of early prog that have survived and can be heard in progressive rock and metal to this day.  Synths, flutes, organs and the mighty Mellotron join the usual arsenal of instruments, and Equilibrio Vital breaks out the sitar for the beginning of Jukka Tolonen's “Impressions Of India”.

Italian band Fauno di Marmo pushes on the hazy boundary between rock and metal with their cover of Haikara's “Gloria Deo” (which is shorter than the original), starting off with something you might hear on any number of prog metal releases today.  They change gears halfway through, and play through something that reminds me of R.E.O. Speedwagon, then pick up again where they left off a couple minutes later to finish it off.  However, it should probably be noted that the song is one of Haikara's more recent ones, from 1998's Haikara IV: Domino, which may be part of how it sounds in the hands of Fauno di Marmo.

As with any cover or tribute album, there are songs that don't live up to the original, but there may also be songs that are potentially equal to or even better than the original.  I think kumina.org's cover of “Joropo Llanero” is one of the latter, able to retain some of the jazz / world music influences of Piirpauke, yet able to stand on its own merits.

Tuonen Tytär II ends up being a pretty good compilation that should serve as a welcome refresher or primer to the Finnish prog scene of the 70s, as well as being an introduction to several bands active today (some of the bands covered are still active, too).  From folk to psychedelic rock to mellow songs and much more, there should be enough variety here for just about anyone, even if some of the original songs are from after the 1970s – if that even matters.  Some of these bands may be harder to find than others, but it should be worth the time spent looking for them.

 

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