A double album full of ambition and intent, Overhead’s Telepathic Minds is a tour de force.
Finnish outfit Overhead return with Telepathic Minds, their sixth studio release and a double album specifically created for the troubled times we live in – pandemic, war, and a sense of (sometimes overstated, but very understandable) doom in the Western world.
Before discussing the album, itself, a word about the lush and simply gorgeous artwork which comes with the CD designed and produced by vocalist & flautist, Alex Keskitalo, a remarkably clever chap indeed.
There have been a couple of tracks available for some time on Bandcamp, and these caught my attention early on, but the whole album is now available at https://overheadband.bandcamp.com/album/telepathic-minds and I was very happy when I was provided with a copy to review.
This is a lengthy tome, and it is sometimes difficult for such works to hold the listener’s attention throughout, especially with such serious issues at its heart.
War To End All Wars opens proceedings, and references London Town in its machine led destruction. It is grandiose from the word go, never knowingly understated, and sounds fantastic. Particularly noticeable is a very strong bass groove by Janne Katalkin and symphonic keyboard bursts by Jere Saarainen. Fans of traditional prog rock will love the lush flute throughout, and Keskitalo provides a warm vocal. The lyrics are interesting in referencing multiple realities and posing the question as to what, precisely, we live in. The guitar burst at six and a half minutes in by Jakko Kettunen is a massive statement of intent on his part. An enjoyable start, although I would hope that we can at some point in time change the human condition. The Lazland glass is always half full!
Ghosts from the Future is a twelve minute plus track split into two segments, Endless Sleep & Last Chance to Bail. I just love the rhythm section which introduces us, Katalkin & Ville Sjöblom working in perfect harmony against some dreamy guitar chords and the vocals talking of a dystopian vision of the pointlessness of it all, and, indeed, amid the somewhat dreamy music, the track develops into a dark and heavy vision of an endless sleep of death, the subject of the song coming back to haunt us in the present. The extended instrumental between the two segments has a very urgent flute leading the dark and intense riffs and it all sounds very good, with the band taking on an altogether Middle Eastern flavour in parts. The second segment is deceptively subdued to begin, but we are then provided with a full-on rock out and featuring a Spanish Guitar rollocking the huge riffs below. I think this is a very intelligent song and I would be very interested in learning what the source inspiration was for the last chance to bail and the connection with Judgement Day. I especially enjoy the closing link with the first segment vocals, and it closes with a flourish.
Sail Across the Universe is fascinating lyrically and talks to me about the despair whether our race can ever change for the better and stop destroying ourselves in this journey through time and space. It is clearly an analogy for the situation in Eastern Europe, and, of course, Finland is closer to this dystopian present than we in the UK are (at the time of writing, they will formally join NATO tomorrow), but it does have a message of defiance within it, that we can kill the toxic part of us and release the decency inherent within. Musically, you will hear the best flute in heavier rock since the Tull heyday fifty years ago swarming above the riffs thumped out by the band. The “Sail Across The Universe” chorus is as catchy a piece of hard commercial rock you will hear all year and includes a growl plonked in for good measure, and there are some darker melodic moments captured within the whole piece. Personally, I think that there is a very good shorter single in here which would be perfect for FM Radio playlists, albeit having to include the fantastic instrumental segment which closes.
The Pilot’s Not Fit To Fly strikes me as being a rather personal commentary on self-worth, or lack of. The drum pattern at the start is exceptional, and when the band enter, there is a lightness and a funky groove which belies what I take as the main theme. If you do not fall in love with the flute solo three minutes in, then you have already left this mortal coil. It is gorgeous above the still funky riffs below and this two minutes plus section is about as joyful a noise you will hear all year. After the following vocal, the track explodes into a classic rock piece and Kettunen unleashes a solo to immerse yourself in. This track is exceptional modern rock music.
Side One closes with Sleep Tight Sweetheart. The booklet artwork for this is simply stunning and the song strikes me as a commentary on the fragility of so many of us coping with modern life and trying to keep a hold of our sense of self. The drums are again so strong, thumping at our ears to provide a backdrop to those dark guitar chords and vocal commentary. A minute in, the band once again provides us with an expansive treat, but this then descends into the main theme, a very gothic piece of music which delights fans of darker classic rock, especially those who love their guitar riffs infused with psychedelic blues.
The centrepiece of the album is the title track, which opens CD2 and runs to an epic seventeen plus minutes. It is split into five distinct segments. The acoustic guitar which introduces the extremely thoughtful vocal passage of Hypnotized is a sign of good stuff to come. I especially have huge empathy for the call for us to live ordinary lives, with everyone needing to breath and stop trying to be evil, something our leaders would do very well to practice. The interplay between all the instruments and the vocals are a wonder to behold, with a lightness which is then blown away when the keyboards explode into life in a manner which the likes of Wakeman or Emerson would be proud of, this presaging segment two, Random Honesty, which is simply a rollocking slab of open rock, and I defy anyone listening to be able to stay still.
The third segment is the album title. The opening passage reprises that wonderful eastern flute soaring above the darker riffs below before the main song provides us with something altogether heavier and more “talky” than much of what preceded it. However, the band then reassert themselves at the close of the vocal passage with a very dreamy arabesque infused segment which fairly races along to great head nodding effect. The close of this to a light keyboard and delicate vocal introducing part four, Back In Time, is an impressive change in key and tone. The lyrics talk of better times in the past and are yearning in their vocal execution, and the blues guitar is achingly beautiful, as sublime a noise as you will ever have come across. There is a theme here of our common humanity and the expectation that good will ultimately triumph over evil, and the reprise of Home Again provides us with the musical joy of combatants finally escaping the horrors of war but with a sense of anger of what has been witnessed – the music is suitably grandiose and brings a symphonic rock close.
It is difficult to follow such a track. When the huge noise closes, what else can you possibly follow it with? Well, Overhead choose Tuesday Never Came, a short piece which opens with the most gorgeous male vocal you can imagine. It is lovely. The yearning cry after talking of life as a wasteland of dreams, remaining unbroken, and then as the track explodes in a flash of anger at the madness of minds never changing and how modern society impacts upon us, this is about as satisfying a slab of post rock as it gets.
Planet of Disorder talks to this reviewer of the favourite media “we’re doomed” topic of conversation lately, that of AI and the threat to us, and the fact that although we believe our civilisation is eternal, nothing is. All cheerful stuff, then! The music here, with its swirling flute, is very reminiscent of 80’s Tull when they were laughingly presented with best heavy metal act. It is, to these ears, the least convincing track on the album. Not bad, but slightly throwaway, excepting the very pretty instrumental passage midway through, which is too short, and the very stormy guitar riff led last couple of minutes. The track is just over seven minutes long - half of it is superb, and half is not.
Sheep Stay Silent is dark, and contains themes which I recognise and, indeed, contemplate a great deal these days, that of humanity as a social being having been brought to the edge of destruction by the hypnotism of the ruling economic and political elite. I suppose the only bright lining to this is that intelligent commentators have been saying pretty much the same thing throughout the ages, and somehow, we always seem to get to the other side, but the point of the sheep being led to a miserable existence by their “shepherds” is a well-worn one, and intelligently done here. The opening passage has a throbbing synth, with dark riffs and a swirling flute. As the track progresses, we get more of that mix of classic rock with a mid-eastern twist, and this leads into a delightfully melodic funky passage with the bass singing together with the flute. Matters then take on an altogether heavier and darker hue indicating the winter sun stealing the moon and darkness beginning.
The album ends with Almost Always Near the End, with a lyrical call on us to believe what we are seeing, to engage with the reality of the world as it is, and to rise up. The opening tunes are suitably anthemic and the closest the album gets to a symphonic state. The keyboards are especially grand, before Keskitalo brings us the full range of his vocal talents, at once fragile, and then pushing hard, and the whole piece is atmospheric. It is a good end to the album.
Telepathic Minds is long at over 80 minutes and certainly is extremely impressive for its ambition. By and large, the delivery matches the ambition and I really enjoy the album, and even if I will not put it on the CD player every day in a year’s time, then I will certainly be putting a good few of the tracks on my 2023 “best of” playlist and revisiting the album with some regularity.
Scandinavian rock music continues to be in a very strong place and Overhead are very much a part of this and if you have not enjoyed them before, then I believe they are well worth your attention now.
