Reflexion – Dead To The Past, Blind For Tomorrow

Releasedate: 14-03-2008; Label: Mach XX/Out of Line
By: Elvira Visser

Reflexion is a dark rock band which hails from Finland. Home of the dark melancholic songs. The band was formed back in 1996 and played without a vocalist for a long time before they found one in Juha Kylmänen in 1997. The band was called BarbarianZ and changed their name into Reflexion in 2000. After various demo’s under both names Reflexion showed their skills with their debut album “Out of the Dark” (2006). The band showed that they know how to write dark melancholic rock songs. The single “Army of Broken Heart” reached the Finnish top 20. Now they are ready to conquer the world with their brand new album “Dead To The Past, Blind For Tomorrow”.

On this new album Juha Kylmänen (vocals) showcases his various skills in singing bitter sweet melodies to tougher choruses. The band has great songwriting skills with lyrics about daily life occurrences, spiced up with black humor and a dose of self-irony.

Mikko Uusimaa (bass) on the new album: “Within the heavier songs the lyrics are gloomier than ever before, but there are also, still some pure love songs which then are really into it. I guess it’s more like an open diary than just a relationship therapy.”

The album is produced by Aksu Hanttu (Entwine) and was recorded in three different studios. Vesa Ranta (Sentenced) took care of the artwork of the album.

The sound of the band has some similarities with Scentenced, Poisonblack and For My Pain, other bands that have their history in Oulu, Finland. A lot of songs have catchy choruses or melodies. “Twilight Child” has a nice piano intro to the track which creates a nice atmosphere. The growls on “Non-stop Glorious Ride” and “Dancing in the Air” are from Jaakko Teittinen. Which certainly adds something to these tracks. “Black is the Colour of Your Life” is a track that shows that their songs are varied. The intro is very emotional and dark and ends with a great track with a wall of guitar riffs near the end. “Just One Word (Goodbye)”has an acoustic guitar and the sweet singing of Juha makes this a great song to end the album.

Line Up:
Juha Kylmänen – Vocals
Mikko Uusimaa – Bass
Raymond Pohjola – Drums
Juhani Heikka – Guitar
Ilkka Jolma – Guitar

Links:
Reflexion MySpace
Reflexion Official