Arvio

Until now it has seemed that Niko Skorpio, well known as a multi-talented musician, has devoted each facet of his musical drive to its own project. This is clearly no longer the case. Escape from Heaven is most certainly not a singular whole, even though its sound production (and just the sound production) does give it that feel in a way. The sound profile is very similar to the one seen on the albums of Ulf Söderberg / Sephiroth - meaning that it's quite cold but highly effective. All shades and tones on this record play excellently well. Its ambient segments are also much alike to that aforementioned comparison point, yet differ in that they never burst out into full rhythm.

As far as musical styles go, the album's contents range from metal (the title track) to slow darkwave with unclear vocals and the already mentioned ambient. At times it's highly annoying (especially Fall of Fame irritated me very much), at other times it's incredibly fine (O). Every move, even the most annoying one, nevertheless seems so carefully planned that they leave an image of compositional excellence as their primary impression. This is an album meant to influence its listeners, with both benevolent and malevolent means. When faced with an album they can't quite copmprehend and do not completely like, critics often call it "difficult". This is precisely such a record.

The same thing continues, in an even more obvious way, on Tower of Silence, which is an ep included in the preorder deluxe version of Escape from Heaven. The mini-album opens with a long, fine ambient track, which is simultaneously both an individual piece and part 4 of Dudael, one of the finest pieces on the main album. Style-wise it is very close to the later works of Archon Satani. The other three songs on the record are, in contrast, mostly just disturbing. In style they range from elemental confusion to a singular (yet changing , based on the way the sound hits one's ears) high-pitched squeal. So the bonus record is a quite nice extra that empahasizes the nature of the main album, but it isn't at all a mandatory purchase.

These two discs are a very fascinating whole, but definitely not something everyone would like.

Jiituomas

Niko Skorpio - Escape from Heaven & Tower of Silence

Tähän asti on tuntunut siltä, että Niko Skorpio, tunnettu musiikillinen monilahjakkuus, on kohteistanut eri tyylinsä ja luomisvimmansa kunkin omaan projektiinsa. Näin ei selvästikään enää ole. Escape from Heaven on kaikkea muuta kuin yhtenäinen kokonaisuus, vaikka se tuotannollisesti (ja vain siten) sellaista tavallaan muistuttaakin. Koko levyn ääniprofiili on voimakkaasti samankaltainen kuin mm. Ulf Söderbergin / Sephirothin levyillä, siis kylmähkö, mutta todella vaikuttava. Tämän levyn kaikki sävyt soivat upeasti. Sen ambient-osuudet myös muistuttavat tuota vertailukohtaa, kuitenkin niin, että ne eivät koskaan lähde rytmisiksi. Musiikkityylillisesti sisältö vaihtelee metallista (nimikappale) ja hitaasta, epäselvillä vokaaleilla toimivasta darkwavesta aina edellä mainittuun synkkään ambientiin asti. Välillä se on hyvinkin ärsyttävä (erityisesti Fall of Fame käy pahasti hermoille), välillä sanoinkuvaamattoman hieno (O). Jokainen raivostuttavinkin liike tuntuu kuitenkin niin harkitulta, että joka palasesta jää taidokkuuden kokemus päälimmäisenä mieleen. Tämä levy on tehty vaikuttamaan kuulijaansa, niin hyvällä kuin pahallakin. Levyä, jota ei täysin hahmota ja josta ei aivan täysin pidä, on yleensä kätevintä nimittää "vaikeaksi". Tämä on juuri sellainen levy.	Artisti: Niko Skorpio Formaatti: CD + CD-R Levy-yhtiö: Some Place Else Julkaisuvuosi: 2006 Painos: (erikoispainos 29 kpl) Kokonaiskesto: 55:29+28:40 min Kappaleita: 9+4
Sama linja jatkuu vieläkin selkeämpänä ennakkotilattavana olleen luksuspaketin mukana tulevalla Tower of Silence -ep:llä. Sen avaa pitkä, hieno ambient-nimikappale, joka on samalla pääalbumin parhaimmistoon kuuluvan Dudaelin neljäs osa. Tyyli on hyvin lähellä Archon Satanin loppupään tuotantoa. EP:n kolme muuta raitaa ovat sen sijaan lähinnä häiritseviä, sekavuudesta pelkkään (taajuudeltaan hyvin tarkkaan, ja korvien asennon mukaan muuntuvaan) yksittäiseen ujellukseen. Bonuslevy on siis lähinnä ihan kiva lisäosuus, joka alleviivaa albumin tunnelmia entisestään, mutta mitenkään korvaamaton se ei ole. Erittäin kiehtova kokonaisuus, mutta ei selvästikään kaikille soveltuva. Jiituomas

Takaisin - Kokoelmat - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - R - S - T - U - V - W - Demot

Until now it has seemed that Niko Skorpio, well known as a multi-talented musician, has devoted each facet of his musical drive to its own project. This is clearly no longer the case. Escape from Heaven is most certainly not a singular whole, even though its sound production (and just the sound production) does give it that feel in a way. The sound profile is very similar to the one seen on the albums of Ulf Söderberg / Sephiroth - meaning that it's quite cold but highly effective. All shades and tones on this record play excellently well. Its ambient segments are also much alike to that aforementioned comparison point, yet differ in that they never burst out into full rhythm. As far as musical styles go, the album's contents range from metal (the title track) to slow darkwave with unclear vocals and the already mentioned ambient. At times it's highly annoying (especially Fall of Fame irritated me very much), at other times it's incredibly fine (O). Every move, even the most annoying one, nevertheless seems so carefully planned that they leave an image of compositional excellence as their primary impression. This is an album meant to influence its listeners, with both benevolent and malevolent means. When faced with an album they can't quite copmprehend and do not completely like, critics often call it "difficult". This is precisely such a record. The same thing continues, in an even more obvious way, on Tower of Silence, which is an ep included in the preorder deluxe version of Escape from Heaven. The mini-album opens with a long, fine ambient track, which is simultaneously both an individual piece and part 4 of Dudael, one of the finest pieces on the main album. Style-wise it is very close to the later works of Archon Satani. The other three songs on the record are, in contrast, mostly just disturbing. In style they range from elemental confusion to a singular (yet changing , based on the way the sound hits one's ears) high-pitched squeal. So the bonus record is a quite nice extra that empahasizes the nature of the main album, but it isn't at all a mandatory purchase. These two discs are a very fascinating whole, but definitely not something everyone would like. Jiituomas