Malditos: "Le Réve"

Impenetrable storms of droning psychedelia

It should come as no surprise that an entity as eclectic as Malditos hails from one of musical experimentation's current strongholds, Oakland, California. Malditos is very much a mindset band. Their darkened, nocturnal desert drones are real party killers, but with the right state of mind and setting, Le Réve turns into a rich, nightmarish phantasmagoria cascading from the your mind's eye. The darkness painted by the Oakland tribe of artists is oppressively thick and impenetrable.

Sammal: "Suuliekki"

Brilliant fourth entry from Finnish prog-rockers

When a piece of music is excessively catchy it often comes with the issue that you grow tired of it quicker. Catchiness often comes from simple, repeated melodies and easy-to-follow song structures. But Sammal's brand of catchiness is a creature entirely different. Every time I receive a new Sammal release in my inbox, it takes exactly one listen to get the entire album stuck in my head.

Kimi Kärki: "Eye for an Eye"

Partially derivative, but much more so coloured through by his own style and aesthetic

Kimi Kärki should be known to most fans of doom metal as the lead guitarist of Reverend Bizarre and Lord Vicar. But he's a man of many talents, as his lengthy career would suggest; He's also involved in progressive rock outfit Orne, psychonauts Uhrijuhla and Berliner Schule-revivalists E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr. Furthermore, he's quite adept as a classic folk guitarist, songwriter and vocalist, as evident on both his solo debut, The Bone of My Bones, and now on his sophomore effort, Eye for an Eye.

Messenger: "Illusory Blues"

Highly recommendable variety in murky depths

Messenger from the UK may not have the most original of band names, but the trio played as warm-up on Katatonia's acoustic tour in England and comes recommended by none other than Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg of Ulver fame. Credentials like that aren't easy to come by, and with Messenger they seem very well deserved.

Blaak Heat: "Shifting Mirrors"

Ever-changing, tumultuous psychedelic prog aiming at the stars

Blaak Heat - Formerly known as Blaak Heat Shujaa - has been through a lot of changes in the short span of their career. Originally starting out in 2008, lead singer and guitarist Thomas Bellier is now the only remaining original member, the original bassist Antoine Morel-Vulliez and original drummer Timothée Gacon being replaced in 2014 and 2012 respectively. In a way the shortening of the band name reflects these changes, and ushers in a new era of blackened heat from the French-American trio.

Eero Koivistoinen Quartet: "Hati Hati"

Well-crafted jazz opus that speaks in colourful volumes of a great musical journey

Originally a student of music at both Sibelius Academy in Finland and Berklee College of Music in Boston, Eero Koivistoinen has remained a fixture in the Finnish jazz scene since the sixties, his first release being with the rock group Blues Section's first album of the same name in 1967. Since then the saxophonist has played with and composed for many musicians and band itterations. Already in 1972 did he enjoy international acclaim with his solo album "Wahoo!", but already as early as 1969 did his band at the time win the band competition at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival. His extensive discography, over thirty albums at the time of writing, explores several different genres and subgenres, although jazz has always been his mainstay.

Sammal: "Myrskyvaroitus"

Standing out with howling praise

A part of the struggle of participating in trends is standing out from the lot, and those that achieve this are ironically often those that give the trend the most unusual twist. The vast majority will suffer from being unimaginative and ordinary, which when done well may be a strength on its own. Often the boundary between blindly following a trend and expanding into new territory becomes blurred; At which point exactly does music go from simply paying tribute and drawing inspiration from something to discovering new areas to colonize? The Finnish band Sammal, who are with the release of Myrskyvaroitus now three releases into their journey, seem to be an example of this question.

Hard Action: "Sinister Vibes"

Leather-rocking biker music with everything that entails

Everything about this band screams "we're one of those seventies hard n' heavy clones from Sweden that land somewhere in the midst of a circlejerk consisting of early Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy and Girlschool". The promo shots features sunglasses, denim, beards and a bandana. The cover presents wrecked guitar equipment and a stylish seventies design. Songtitles like Watch Me Burn, Cut to the Bone and Dead Dogs really does the trick. It's a sure thing, right? Well, no, not really.

Death Hawks: "Sun Future Moon"

Consistently ambitious and well-crafted nature-rock

The Finnish folk and rock scene has many gems hidden to the rest of the Western world. If you're not acquainted with the progressive grooves of Sammal, the ecclectic ramblings of Paavoharju or the laid back finesse of Riitaoja, all I've got to say is get going! One of the many surprising acts that the land of a thousand lakes has to offer is Death Hawks, a group which has been consistently releasing albums and touring Europe since 2010.

E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr: "Spiralo"

A journey to 70s Germany with a group of Finns as tour-guides

Some claim that the German music style known af Krautrock (and to an extent the various subgenres the Kraut movement spawned) never quite went out of style. Though Tangerine Dream's mastermind Edgar Froese passed away not too long ago, the group was active right until his death. Others like Klaus Schulze (of Ash Ra Tempel) and the band Faust are still going strong, as if they've forgotten about the passage of time. In addition newer groups are crawling forth from various scenes all over the world, inspired in some degree by the landmark German movement.

Oranssi Pazuzu: "Värähtelijä"

Soothing tales of the mind's echoing paranoia

Is there such a thing as progressive black metal? Whenever anyone adds just a tiny bit of free thinking into the stale melting pot known as modern black metal everybody has a nervous breakdown tossing the term "post black metal" at it like it cures cancer. But if there's any band out there that deserves a defining term at all, it surely is Oranssi Pazuzu. Since their debut in 2009 they've been in a state of constant roiling evolution, never quite content with their style, always pushing borders. Every album since then has had something different going on, and every time they've got new material coming out it's bound to be surprising.