MOON FOG PROPHET - WHEN THEY OPENED THEIR PARACHUTES... SILENCE - 1999

Band info is missing for this band... Well, my knowledge is limited. What I've heard before from these guys is a couple of Finnish-language albums under the name KUUSUMUN PROFEETTA (= Moon Fog Prophet). It seems these two bands have some other stylistic differences besides language. The most striking of them is the way Mika Rättö (who plays also keyboards) uses his voice. In Finnish he sings in a frail falsetto voice sounding very much like Robert Wyatt, and here he ridiculously pushes his voice from his throat using thick vibrato, as if he's mocking someone like David Byron or Peter Hammill. Unfortunately that is a major fault in my opinion; as an instrumental or better sung this would be much better album. Probably Rättö's falsetto style wouldn't fit either, because Kuusumun Profeetta is also in music more ethereal and calm - at least the ones I now recall.

Categorized under Psychedelic/ Space Rock, Moon Fog Prophet is likely to appeal to the listeners of slightly experimental modern bands who mix psychedelia and jazzy elements. Better not mention band names as this field is not so common to me... The instrumental parts - luckily there are many - often extend themselves using repetition and thus creating a hypnotic and jazz-like improvisatory feeling. Especially I like the instrumental ending halves of 'A Liar in 602' with clockenspiel and 'Starling' with piano. A Finnish band called Husky Rescue has some similarities (they also have a good female singer, so you can guess which band I prefer!).

Though there are some very good moments, this album is somehow half baked. With less singing (or a better singer) and perhaps with more various instruments - for example flute or sax - they could have made a wonderful, highly original album. But they didn't. As for my rating, I try to ignore my distaste for the vocals and round it up to three stars, because this is worth checking out.
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