Finland!

In fact, it was pretty goddamn awful.

by Rodney Anonymous

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

The last time Aid or Invade paid a visit to Finland, it was to review the latest effort by fiddle band JPP. Their CD, Artology, was given the coveted AID rating, not because it was any good (in fact, it was pretty goddamn awful), but to point out just how subjective, arbitrary and, therefore, completely asinine rating systems are.

This time we'll be looking at KTU's Quiver, which is a whole different kettle of fish (which is, coincidentally, the national dish of Finland) altogether. One look at the credits — Trey Gunn on Warr guitar (a Warr guitar is a 12-string guitar with a neck slightly wider than a football field); Kimmo Pohjonen on accordion; and Pat Mastelotto on "rhythmic devices, beats and noises" — lets you know that you're in for something different.

And "different" is exactly what Quiver is: a dark and heavy sort of insane tango-prog rock that sounds uncannily like an updated version of the Goblins' soundtrack to Dario Argento's Suspiria mixed with Rick Wakeman's most intense PCP experience. Disjointed melodies pop in and out of cacophonous bursts of aural energy before being submerged again in pulsing rhythms. Not unlike the mighty herring, struggling against the current in a brave effort to meet its drug connection.

In short: This is the perfect music to be played at each of Charles Manson's future parole hearings. Oh, and there's yodeling, too.

Verdict:

America, you've prayed to your false gods for decades now to bring you something different. Luckily for you, Odin intercepted your feeble pleadings and has sent you KTU.

(r_anonymous@citypaper.net)

And rodneyanonymous.com is your Valhalla.