Spiritraiser are a Helsinki- based band and continue for this website the rather rich vein of form being displayed by all things Scandinavian musically. Their website states that they don’t really care about genres and operate in the fields of music wherever they feel comfortable – fantastic, just as this website likes it!

Ciklos is their second album following the release of Inspiral in 2018, which I did not hear at the time. The band consist of Jules Näveri on vocals, Uula Korhonen on guitar, Kristian Merilahti, drums & programming, and Anssi Ruotanen on the bass duties.

So, with this album, we get a very eclectic mix of moods, primarily heavy, very well played, and always interesting.

Artificial Light opens proceedings and is a decent example of this. Some of the vocal passages are very delicate, but when the band rock out, they do so with power. Some of the keyboard effects are very interesting and add a lustre to the piece. Halfway in we get the first guitar solo, and a fine one it is too, set against some interesting vocal cries, and the way the band slow down the pace as this progresses is very interesting, and they do it without losing any of the power inherent. The final minute features a few vocal screams which I personally could lose before the chords wind down. It is an impressive start to the album.

Invisible Enemy is up next. The start is about a universe away from the first track, with some bright keys, understated guitar chords, and a tumbling drum leading us into the main piece. There are then some energetic bursts as the track progresses into a pulsating rocker, and the lyrics are interestingly introspective talking about the invisible enemy within, the voices inside the head.

Glory has a low-key start. The lyrics talk about being humiliated, and the track explodes into life when it talks about the darkness kicking in and asking whether the “precious enemy” is stronger for his/its bullying. There is clearly a personal dimension to this, and it does resonate with me a bit, because I was bullied at school before I hit back, and in the longer term I most definitely was a stronger person than those thugs. Just before a minute out, there is another very thoughtful guitar solo, and the rhythm section begins to beat out a thudding rejoinder. A very strong track, this.

Stream has an interesting electronica intro before a guitar riff leads us to the vocal introduction. The chorus sections are anthemic and there are some heavy crunching riffs interspersed with more clever guitar riffs. The lyrics are very interesting – “most people die with their music inside”, so we are possibly referring again to a personal release.

Quipu interested me quite a bit before I even heard it. The word itself refers to the ancient Inca method of using string and knots to keep records and communicate between distances, and I might also add that this was utilised in the Jason Momoa series about a future of blind humanity following a terrible epidemic in See, the third segment of which has just been released. A wonderfully thoughtful guitar solo opens this. As the track progresses, we get an impressive modern post rock track in which Korhonen especially really impresses with some ghostly notes and effects on guitar, and the chaos inherent in the messages on the strings are interesting to compare with the chaos we get every time we listen to or watch the news these days – vastly different technology, but the same outcome.

Sirens again has some fascinating synth programming to start with, very atmospheric, and quite sunny. The track is as close to a ballad as the album gets and is wistful in its regret over the blame for promises made. A video is embedded at the top – enjoy.

Fearism reasserts the rock base of the album, and reminds one in parts, certainly with the vocal chants, of a certain Wheatus bestselling track a few years back. I say this not to be insulting. There is absolutely nothing wrong with commercial music, and whilst it is difficult to imagine this track being on mainstream radio (it is too heavy in parts for that nowadays), there are some interesting mood changes and gentle guitars contained herein for the closest they get to mainstream rock music before the track has an explosion of noise and the close then brings us an almost New Age vibe in its effects, rhythmic drums and gentle piano chords. This track, perhaps more than all others, exemplifies the contrasts and interest inherent in the band’s music. The video, embedded above, provides us with the lyrics and end statements.

Virgin Soil initially calms proceedings down a lot, with some more fascinating rhythms by drum & bass. As it proceeds into a widescreen rock track, you are impressed by the breadth of the sounds the band bring to the table, and I rather like the guitar lines sitting underneath the vocals and expansive notes.

The Wrong Giants is the penultimate track on offer. In parts thundering, but in others very thoughtful – by way of example, I love the keyboards which start just short of two minutes in clearly inspired by a certain Mr Townsend on Who’s Next, and, indeed, there is much of the sort of structural composition he exemplified with that seminal band in this track. What the band do very well is avoid the sort of derivative industrial sound that this piece could easily have fallen into, and instead provide us with something far more interesting. The final minute simply thunders away and is very impressive in its chaos.

The album closes with Mountain, and it is the longest track on offer at just short of six and a half minutes. The opening passage is almost Americana in its impact, with some lush guitar chords, slide and acoustic, before a delicate vocal is started by Näveri. It is deeply atmospheric, with the lyrics talking about our (humanity’s) loss at the wilful destruction of our beautiful environment. The mood perfectly builds up to an expansive and very loud passage before we get some very interesting keyboard notes with the riffs fading into silence over a long 40 seconds or so, allowing the listener to catch their breath.

I have read a couple of reviews of this album in which they are compared to a veritable smorgasbord of artists, but I find them rather unique myself. The album is released via Luminol Records, and is available on iTunes, where I got my copy. Give it a listen. It is a very good album.