REFLEXION

The story of Finnish band Reflexion inspires pride in the state of the Finnish heavy scene — the guys started out jamming AC/DC covers in apartments, then began writing their own songs, and later happily found a charismatic (according to press releases) frontman, Juha Kilmanen. A large number of shows in their hometown smoothly led to a contract with the label A1 Music, resulting in two successful singles followed by the album "Out Of The Dark." Honestly, I hadn't heard any of that, and what landed in my hands was the album under review, "Dead To The Past, Blind For Tomorrow." The result of listening was a certain bewilderment, because I heard nothing worthy of attention. Ordinary, unremarkable gothic rock, of which there's quite a lot. Comparisons in the press release to H.I.M and THE 69 EYES bring a smile and allow one to compare this work only to "Love Metal" from the former and "Devils" from the latter — meaning Reflexion cannot withstand any comparison with the best works of the aforementioned bands. The "charismatic" frontman turns out to be the owner of a pleasant but by no means outstanding voice. Perhaps in terms of melodies there's something to latch onto — certain passages are quite deserving of an approving nod. In reality, it's precisely in gothic rock where a singles strategy can lift bands to the top — a couple of hits is quite normal for this genre. However, the need to confirm one's caliber with albums never goes away. Let's hope that for Reflexion, the mediocrity of this album is merely an unfortunate setback.