KAIRON IRSEREVIEW MOVIE

I’d like to stress that by “surreal” I do not mean the type of underground rock that’s predominantly weird, but rather something unusual and fascinating, mind-bending even. Dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason, outside of all aesthetic and moral preoccupation.” This sounds to me like something that music would be well-suited to achieve in general, and the Finnish astral magicians, KAIRON IRSE!, are just the right bunch to evoke a particularly surreal response. For those that know.One version of the Surrealist Manifesto reads something like this: “Surrealism is pure psychic automatism, by which one proposes to express, either verbally, in writing, or by any other manner, the real functioning of thought. They push the boundaries to such an extent that they are a band that one must invest time in, and for that reason they are likely to remain an underground concern, but a thoroughly loved and highly valued one at that. Unfortunately, the sheer volume of ideas on this record, the breadth of sound, and the bravery and conviction of the players, will probably not provide Kairon IRSE! with the profile and exposure they deserve. The earlier swirl and rapids of sinister waters has gone, and been replaced by a calm, crystalline ocean. The melodies are rich and diverse, with Dmitry Melet’s lilting, arcadian vocals fitting the blissful mood perfectly, before a single, wailing guitar takes the track to a noisier conclusion. Best of the bunch is the substantial (in more ways than one) ‘Porphyrogennetos’, which has a beautifully airy, spacey quality to it.

The remaining tracks on the album continue with the more contemplative side to the band, with the folky, hushed dream pop and minimal percussion of ‘Llullaillaco’ and the largely reflective, organ-led ‘Ruination’ contrasting starkly with their earlier material.

KAIRON IRSEREVIEW MOVIE

‘Sinister Water II’ has a truly vintage progressive rock vibe- it’s all bristling, mid-tempo riff and spooky 70s sci-fi movie soundtrack synth, while ‘Starik’ cuts a more contemporary, stoner rock rug. Although I defy anyone to dance to it without looking like they have large pebbles in both shoes. It is a challenging listen, as the band splice together seemingly un-related sections time and time again, but the end result is richly entertaining. The track breaks out at 3:40 with a fuzzed out bassline straight from Black Rainbows’ school of heavy psych, before the irregular time-signatures and general bonkers-ness returns. ‘Sinister Water I’ has psych guitar, dark atmosphere, mathy rhythms and heavily folk-infused vocal harmonising, which calls to mind short-lived Swedish shoegazers Fields as much as it does Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull.

The opening 25 minutes of the record sees Kairon IRSE! swimming wilfully into mysterious, sinister waters. I made a list of the potential genres that this album could/doesn’t fit into, and I had psych, post-rock, math rock, folk and prog within the first 45 seconds of the album starting.

Ruination by Kairon IRSE!Despite the move to a less abrasive sound, the willingness to dive head first into the previously unheard is very much alive and well.

It sees the band move definitively in the direction of classic Prog (yes, with a capital ‘P’- call me out, if you must), with track lengths on 3 of the 6 on show stretching toward 12-13 minute proportion, and the whole album dispensing almost entirely with the previous blitzkrieg of noise, and focusing instead on bringing a trippy, pastoral and more refined, spacious style. Hailing from Seinäjoki, a small city in western Finland, this innovative, experimental four piece now present their third record Ruination. It was an enthralling, explosive ride through the largely unchartered territory of psychedelic post-rock, additionally incorporating elements of shoegaze, progressive rock and generally being smashed out of your skull on some rather fine acid. Despite committing any number of crimes in the eyes of the grammar police, Kairon IRSE! certainly made more than just an exclamation mark with their second album Ujubasajuba in 2014.

Kairon irsereview