flyctory.com

Jess And The Ancient Ones – Vertigo

Jess And The Ancient Ones - Vertigo

4.1

Rating

4.1/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Nice psychedelic rock compositions
  • Good vocal work
  • Lovely atmosphere

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Some songs are a bit too similar

I didn’t have Finnish music for quite a while in my Flyctory.com media reviews. In this posting, I am taking you to the Kuopio band Jess And The Ancient Ones. Some rock from Scandinavia – they release the album Vertigo on 21st May 2021. It is their fourth album release overall.

 

Jess And The Ancient Ones – About The Artists

Jess And The Ancient Ones are a psychedelic rock band. They have been founded in Kuopio, Finland in 2010. The vocalist is called Jess, which is also a clear hint about the band name. Thomas Corpse is writing the songs and plays the guitar, Fast Jake does the bass, Jussuf is the drummer and percussionist and Abraham deals with every instrument with keys. The band debuted with a self-titled album in 2012, followed by the EP Astral Sabbat. The debut album has also been their biggest success so far, as it placed in the Finnish Top 10. The following two albums, Second Psychedelic Coming: The Aquarius Tapes (2015) and The Horse and Other Weird Tales (2017) did make it to the Finnish charts as well, but had average ratings.

Jess And The Ancient Ones – Vertigo – Track by Track

The eight track album lasts 40 minutes.

1. Burning Of The Velvet Fires

Burning Of The Velvet Fires has been one of the “musical appetizers” before the album release. The psych part of Jess And The Ancient Ones’ music is perfectly illustrated. The melody feels rather traditional, like in a dark rock musical. A touch of the Rocky Horror Show coming from the land of the 1,000 lakes.

2. World Paranormal

The melodic background is the most catching instrumental part of World Paranormal. The song overall rather up-tempo, Jess’ vocals are very present. The song feels like a 1990’s rock song to me. Lovely one.

3. Talking Board

The powerful vocals in Talking Board, especially during the chorus, again make me associate the song with a dark musical. Very hymnal in stlye – again the organ plays an important melodic role in this track. The song has an almost scary part at towards its middle – this is definitely a nice listen for fans of the genre.

4. Love Zombi

The fourth track on the album starts very slow, with organ sounds, before bass and drum sounds create a nice sound background for the vocals. The song feels to be from another sphere, another era… But it is still a good one to listen to.

5. Summer Tripping Man

Summer Tripping Man has been the first single release of the album – and you really have to be quick – as it is also the shortest song. The song has a lot of drive and speed and all musicians really need to go for quicker work on their instruments. Powerful – but not necessarily my favorite song on the album.

6. Born To Kill

Born To Kill comes with one of the most catching vocal performances on the album. The song is very straight and comes with a lot of energy. Good listen.

7. What’s On Your Mind

What’s On Your Mind is very close to Born To Kill – the guitars are more powerful and spread more of the psych-feeling. The predecessing track was a bit more modest in that discipline.

8. Strange Earth Illusion

Just when you think the album is over, Jess And The Ancient ones indulge themselves and their fans with an almost twelve minute closing track. Strange Earth Illusion is a travel through different moods. Sometimes, the song almost feels like a hard rock track (with organ sounds), sometimes, it is very slow and quiet. A battle of different kinds of feelings – just as you would expect of a psyedelic rocker. Nice finish.

 

Jess And The Ancient Ones – Vertigo – Spotify

Here is Vertigo on Spotify:

 

Jess And The Ancient Ones – Vertigo – My View

Overall, Jess And The Ancient Ones do a really nice job. I am even tempted to give the album a really, really high rating. But unfortunately, the songs are rather close to each other. If you love psych rock, you will praise the Scandinavians and feel they could be close to the album of the year. For all other listeners, this is still a release worth giving a try.

 

Finland at Flyctory.com

Here are all postings on Flyctory.com about Finland:

 

Lounge Reviews on Flyctory.com

Here are all Lounge Reviews on Flyctory.com:

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *