Something's At The Sky -
From The Rain


(CD 2014, 46:42, Presence Records PRECD 041)

The tracks:
  1- From The Rain
  2- If Only You Care
  3- Strange Whispering
  4- Shining In My Eyes
  5- Dreams
  6- Trust
  7- Rose In The Snow
  8- Rain Drops
  9- Syringeful Of Green

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Something's At The Sky is a Finnish band that started somewhere around the year 2009, when vocalist Alan Kimbrian left an announcement on the internet in search of musicians to form a band. The musical style should fuse Queen and Porcupine Tree into their own style. Within two years SATSky found its shape, with besides Alan Kinbrian on vocals, Kimmo Pitkänen on guitars, Vesa Koivunen on keyboards and a rhythm section consisting of bass player Pasi Luoma and drummer Dario Albrecht.

With From The Rain, SATSky releases their first real album, combining the bombastic style of Queen with a more conventional (neo) prog based sound. The band's music sounds great, the guitars are clear and slightly distorted when needed and the keyboards are well dosed and do find their moments to shine through impressive solos on the album. When Vesa Koivunen plays the piano, like on Dreams, you get a cozy atmosphere, which perfectly balances the cold weather outside my house. The same composition also sees vocalist Alan at his best, in my opinion. Alan seems to be very fond of bombastic music; perhaps Freddie Mercury is his absolute idol, but the way I see it is either you love the vocal style he uses, or you might have your thoughts when you get blown away by the theatrical storm heading your way. Okay, there is a third option, than means you tolerate his voice and look beyond the vocals and get intrigued by the compositions itself. When I go for this third option I hear very nice compositions, like the slow and melodic Rose In The Snow, based on a piano theme, where guitar and bass increase the power to a sort of heaviness that sounds great with the still continuing keys. Note, the vocals are quite normal during this song. Something occurred to me when I started listening to Rain Drops, I did get a Rammstein moment in there, the theatrical vocals do remind me of the music of Germany's masters of electronic metal. During other compositions the vocals are just a bit over the top; one does like it, I do have my doubts, listen to the beginning of If Only You Care and judge for yourself.

From The Rain is an album that I cannot really put my finger on; at one point I do like the way the compositions are build, on the other hand, the more I listen to the vocals, the more my doubts grow. The combination of melodies and power does sound great and the piano truly adds something special to SATSky's music. So for now I can only say the album is an interesting debut for a band that is quite unique -vocal wise I mean-, but it still has to grow on me. There is a potential great band underneath the bombast, I know .... and hope.

***+ Pedro Bekkers (edited by Astrid de Ronde)

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