Amazing news folks: another fairly young band is totally killing me with its great music! The album I’m listening to right now is so good and I’m sure it will conquer you from the first note. I’m talking about Ocean Heart, the debut album of My Grande Finale – the band’s name refers to a typical expression used in the classic music’s world - that is going to be released through Argonauta Records, one of my favorite labels ever.
My Grande Finale is the solo project of Markus Grönfors from Tampere (Finland), that saw the light just after the tour with the well known instrumental band Kokomo. The idea of the project was to create simple and minimalist sounds realized with a guitar and a looper only. The outcome is something different and I would say something definitely better because it’s a rich post-rock/post-metal sound. Apart from the common tag we use to categorize an album I would say that Ocean Heart is melancholic because I recognize in it a constant melancholic note.
Over the course of 5 songs and approximately 35 minutes Markus Grönfors has been able to create an original mood. My Grande Finale don’t simply overwhelm you with a singular sound, but there are so many distinct post-rock, shoegaze and post-metal passages and each time the transition is so natural that you forget what was in the action. This heartbreaking mix is the power of Ocean Heart.
The opening title track is a great blend of the dark and the sweet. ‘Ocean Heart’ is an impressive song, with the soft drum that seems suspended in a big space that makes everything more intense. I really love this track.
The following ‘They'll Come’ is a completely different track, from the opening explosion of sounds to the subsequent amazing melody that brings us to the space. The echoing instruments, from guitar to bass to drums create a captivating vertigo that make this song a work of art. ‘Moscow River Cruises’ stands in the middle of the album and at first listen it appears like a moment to rest but even if there are no crescendos nor peaks of sound this song has a strong tension in it. The tone is dark and it works like a prelude of something next to happens. In the same way ‘Long Road No Home’ is so dark and deep that the best way to describe it is to use a picture. Imagine that is late night and even if it’s cold outside you decide to go for a walk. Well, whenever you go walking this song is your soundtrack.
The ten minutes ‘For Salvation’ is the last song of the album and continues on the same path as the previous track, at least in its first part. After that all the instruments play together to give more tension to the song in a continuous crescendo till achieving a solemn peak that won’t leave you in peace. There is a sort of mix between melancholia and anguish, but it’s unexpectedly and extremely beautiful.
Ocean Heart is a slow and powerful contemplative record and is constantly good and intense. I couldn't think of a better album to accompany my melancholic longing. Ocean Heart will be available on Argonauta Records and released as noble digisleeve CD limited to 300 copies.
