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Nest > Trail of the Unwary > Reviews
Nest - Trail of the Unwary

Quite an interesting piece of music. - 80%

oneyoudontknow, March 15th, 2010

CD1:
Purring... it opens with purring, a sound of the deepest satisfaction. Unusual in some respect, but actually not very surprising to those who are familiar with the art of the Finnish band Nest. Ambient mixed with folk and field recordings make up the ingredients of the oeuvre and this has grown over the years to a fascinating set of atmospheres and arrangements. While the first releases had a bit of a cheap touch, this latest one Trail of the Unwary is nothing but a professional approach in the band's goal to an intense mixture of the aforementioned elements.

What has changed, then? Well, the music has taken a different direction. General concepts have been abandoned to a good deal and Nest reached for something fresh. The best example for this may be the track Hunt. In this the actual idea of a hunt is mimiced by the instruments and arrangements; variations in tempo, atmospheres and effects were used to give this kind of impression. Around fifteen minutes in length it provides the listener with a wide array of pictures and motives, which change in a neat and haunting way over the course of the composition. Kantele, pondering drums in the background, and the vocals – a mixtures of croaking and whispering – help to keep the song going, while guitars and additional elements lay the basis and create some sort of distraction. Again and again the tempo leaps forward, always taken back to create some tension, but only to push forward like a horde of hungry wolves for its prey. Chasing, chasing, chasing … there is no escape from the hound that is at one's heel. It pursues without mercy and the moment of peace is just a preparation for another and presumably more vicious attack. The laughing and the crackling sound of fire, together they give the impression that the hunter was able to reach for its prey and that the hunt is finally over. Yet towards the end, the drums and the main motive come again and leash forward anew. It is a never ending cycle, something that is at the core of the nature and it will never ever cease or entirely vanish.

Even though the lyrics are quite minimalist, they actually describe the overall idea behind this composition quite accurate:
This is a life-long struggle for survival.
There's nothing glorious about it. Nor is there hate, nor honour.
Such things have little meaning when the choice is between feeding and death.
And you know that is no choice at all.

It is rather due to modern day's society that the Western civilization associated something mystical with the idea of a hunt. For those living in the wild, it is nothing but an aspect to survive life, while for those of the industrial world it is something to escape from it.

Hunt is an exception though, but it is also the centre of the album; the fourth out of seven compositions, hence some special attention is being drawn upon it. Those six other tracks do not exactly follow the formula of the preceding albums, but show some references to them at times. It is the same kind of calm melodies, enriched with field recordings and keyboards textures which already provided the earlier works of this band a special touch and atmosphere. The difference between these would be an increase in the level of professionalism on the side of the band, which is especially apparent in the absence of the cheap touch of the keyboards as well as in the more voluminous and better balanced production. Moreover, a shift from mere melody lines towards more ambient and a broader perspective can also be discovered. So, it might be fair to say that the music has become something to enjoy while sitting back and relaxing.

A bit of an ambiguous experience are the vocals, but this seems to be a topic I am generally annoyed by. Even though the whispering sound of them add something to the atmosphere and support the tensions and motives, they are unable to reach for any kind of particular emotion on the side of the listener, as their overall degree of appearance is rather minimal; somehow even negligible. As it is not possible to understand every phrase of the lyrics, they might be perceived as some sort of noise or ambient element. Maybe the music would also work without them... well, would it not be for the strange kind of clean spoken ones in The Turning of the Tides. They always bothered and irritated me. Even after all the years that I own this album I have never been able to appreciate them in any way, because they disrupt the flow of the music and are a too graven disruption from the overall calmness of the music. This track is some kind of 'downer' because the atmosphere and the ideas simply feel like being misplaced and out of the order.


CD2:
Only the first and the second track will be discussed here, as the rest has been covered elsewhere already and it would only bloat this review unnecessarily.

The Gallant Crow (Skepticism cover)
First of all, I cannot say that I am too impressed by the original, because in terms of the concept and its execution I perceive it as quite wanting, but this would be a different story. Yet without having this aspect in mind, it is still possible to enjoy the performance of Nest in some respect. I say in some respect, because it does not follow the general flow of the album. Here, a small emphasis was placed on the guitars, which gives this composition an additional intensity as well as some slight aggressiveness; something similar cannot be found on the 'normal' part of the album. Even though someone, like a fan of Skepticism, might appreciate of the interpretation of the Finnish band, others might be a bit tired or even irritated by the music, as it lacks the swiftness and atmosphere Nest has received some attention and prominence for.

Last Vestige of Old Joy Remixed and remastered
This one originally appeared on the split album with Agalloch and in style it follows the approach on the Woodsmoke album. This means: slightly cheap keyboard sound, a distinct melody line, a good deal of kantele play and some gentle drums/bass/keyboards in the background. For collectors and hardcore fans this track might be interesting, but to others it might be too boring/plain/predictable to create a lasting fascination for it.


Final bits and bytes
Aside from the interesting music also some words should be spend on the neat design of the digipack. The drawing look beautiful and even though some might point to the missing booklet as something to criticize, it is still a neat artefact. Somehow it completes an overall positive impression.

Nest have taken a step further away from generic melody lines and concepts and have brought their music to a new and fascinating level. Of course does the production have an impact on how the music is perceived and unlike on the preceding outputs, Trail of the Unwary comes with a proper sound and balancing; except for the vocals maybe.

This album is not of a sort one can listen to excessively and with every possible temper, but it is again and again able to take the listener away into some far away land, into a place full of mystery and still left untouched. A pristine place outside the normal routine of every day's existence.

Nest's best material thus far - 91%

Pale_Pilgrim, May 23rd, 2009

After a solid debut album back in 2003 which stuck very closely to the sound heard on their demo, Tolonen and Saxell really outdid themselves with their sophomore release, 2007's Trail of the Unwary.

The opener, "Moonbow", unfolds like a cocoon - a slow and majestic process. It makes much use of Tolonen's keyboard, and is one of the few Nest tracks with prominent drumming. The kantele appears, vanishes like a ghost, and occasionally makes return appearances. It evokes images of a thick forest at night with a full moon being veiled by wisps of cloud, showing through, and being hidden again.

The other tracks maintain the imagery and a chilling-yet-peaceful nature, with "Hunt" being a bit of an exception; it starts gently enough, but quickly evolves into a roaring piece of ambience with drums, keys, bass and kantele all working together to create an eerie, tense, aggressive atmosphere - and so the hunt begins! When the madness ends, there are sounds of wolves howling and wind blowing as keys, kantele and whispered voices turn the atmosphere into a weird, almost spacey state, as though the music itself is star-gazing.

"Kontio" is and has been my favorite Nest song for quite some time now. It features John Haughm from Agalloch harmonizing wordlessly in a soft, distant voice and an outstanding kantele melody. Laurie Ann Haus of Todesbonden also makes an appearance on the album closer, "Across the Waters", a bright-sounding track with complex string-work, sparing use of rolls on a bodhrán and samples of water and wind. This is also one of those Nest tracks which features the two bandmates' indecipherable whispers being fairly noticeable, which are used for additional texture.

This is highly recommended neofolk/ambience for those who love nature, the kantele, and long walks in a forest, much like the one this Trail leads the mind through.

Stand-out tracks: Kontio, Across the Waters, Moonbow, Hunt

Soundtrack of nature's endurance - 100%

ShadowSouled, January 23rd, 2008

When I found out that Nest was releasing a new album, I knew I had to get my hands on it somehow. Having listened to Woodsmoke and their split LP with Agalloch, I knew that their next release would be nothing short of amazing. For those who aren't familiar with Nest's music, they play dark ambient based around the Kantele, a traditional Finnish string instrument; think of them being similar to Burzum's Hlidskjalf, only far more interesting and emotive.

This is Nest's second full length, containing seven songs and clocking in at roughly an hour and ten minutes. Every instrument - Kantele, synth, bass, spoken/whispered passages, drums - are interwoven to create a poignant atmosphere, which speaks of nature untouched by human "development". The Kantele lines are repetitive yet complex; not just any moron could write, yet alone play, what A.Tolonen did here. He also adds some echo effects that enhance the ethereal quality of the instrument. The synth is somewhat in the background, and provides additional melody to compliment the Kantele. The bass, while not entirely audible, provides an additional aesthetic element, such as in the song entitled Hunt; I can't describe it, but that particular song has an almost black metal feel to it; mostly because the atmosphere changes from tranquil and still to more lively and disturbed. There is also a considerable amount of drumming in that song compared to the other ones, and a hint of harsh vocals. On the subject of the drumming, it is simply there to beat out a tattoo; it adds a little more structure to songs that would normally not have much, if any. The bass is clearly audible, and seems to be there to compliment the synth playing as much as the Kantele. Scattered throughout the album are whispered or chanted parts; in Kontio, there is also some singing. None of the vocals are particularly prominent, but stand out enough that the listener can almost hear what Tolonen and Saxell are saying. The lyrics themselves are small snatches, often not longer than a couple sentences; they are all either in Finnish or English, and deal with basic aspects of nature, such as fighting to stay alive, killing to live, etc. All of this is the recipe for a beautiful album reminiscent of forest sounds during nighttime.

If you were a fan of Burzum's dark ambient/electronic albums, but wished they sounded more organic, I highly recommend this album to you. This is perfect music for relaxing after a long day, studying, or taking a long walk in the woods...

Standout Songs: Moonbow, Kontio, Hunt, The Turning of the Tides