Paatos' debut album falls somewhere between Landberk's Indian Summer and
Morte Macabre's
Symphonic Holocaust. Of course,
Reine Fiske's flowing basslines and Stefan Dimle's dreamy guitar licks account for most of the basis for these comparisons.
Timeloss offers a very strong, if somewhat short debut. Again,
Fiske and Dimle were already highly experimental -- and respected -- progressive rock musicians when they entered the studio in early 2002 to record this album. The group also had some mileage on the counter, having recorded a 45-rpm single for Mellotronen the year before ("Téa" was that single's B-side; the version included here was completely re-recorded).
Paatos' music relies on very quiet textures, melancholia-laden melodies, aerial flute (or clarinet), and velvety Mellotron. Petronella Nettermalm's voice perfectly matches the music's mood. She does not have a wide range, but she nails down the mysterious/vaporous character of the songs to perfection. Slightly more upbeat than the album's average, "Sensor" makes a good opener, circumscribing the group's territory in a nicely packed five-minute song. The eight-minute "Hypnotique" gets straight to the dreamy side of late Landberk,
White Willow circa the
Ex Tenebris album, or even the smoother side of Hughscore. The CD-R section on InsideOut's reissue includes a nice still-video of a four-minute edit of the song. "Téa" and "They Are Beautiful" offer more beautifully sad melodies. The 12-minute "Quits" is almost entirely something else. Closer to trip-hop, with a hyperactive drumbeat excited by a horn section but in turn mellowed down by John Wallén's electric piano, this song shatters the mold defined by the previous pieces, showing that
Paatos are not a recipe-driven band and that they can get ferocious -- the last three minutes feature some raucous improvising. Highly recommended, especially to fans of the
Anekdoten/
Anglagard/Landberk axis of Scandinavian prog rock, although
Timeloss may also appeal to those interested in
Radiohead's
OK Computer and similar alternative rock. ~ François Couture