Melancholic, drowsy gothic rock from a Finnish manufacturer. This description, sounding like something from a paint products commercial, quite accurately captures the output of the Suomi quartet SHAMRAIN — on "Empty World Excursion" you'll encounter nine monotonous tracks that differ from one another only in their titles and length. Ever wondered what a world closed for renovation looks like? A world where every tree is wrapped in old newspaper, where alabaster footprints scatter across the ground in every direction, and styrofoam snow falls from a sky stitched together with steel staples? Monochrome thoughts, glass people. Quiet, cautious sounds. Soft and light, like evaporating absinthe...
An entertaining fact from SHAMRAIN's biography — the musicians decided to form their band after listening to LAKE OF TEARS' "Forever Autumn." You reap what you sow — the album turned out rainy, weepy, and endlessly drawn-out. It feels like this masterpiece was recorded exclusively during night shifts to the steady snoring of the sound engineer and the scurrying of studio rats.
The dreary booklet and dreary photograph with its dreary landscape would be a perfect fit for decadent doom minorities a la ANATHEMA, yet the Finnish "drizzle" gravitates more toward the HIM-like denizens of the Land of a Thousand Lakes. No surprise there — vocal duties on "Empty World Excursion" were handled by Mika Tauriainen of ENTWINE. Besides this baritone fellow, the album features a multitude of diverse guests — violinists, flutists, cellists. The universally renowned maestro Hiili Hiilesmaa (Finnvox Studios) made sure the sound was transparent, deep, and velvety.
What's missing, as always, is something small yet essential — a couple of catchy melodies, a rousing refrain, that elusive spark. As it stands, after two listens I couldn't recall a single thing. This record is unlikely to fully capture anyone's interest, but as background music it serves as a fine frame for one's distilled daily routine.