Miero
Together for 23 years, Varttina is one of the biggest bands in Finland and the best-known example of modern Finnish folk music. The group's 10th album,Miero, is a 13-song effort that comes from a session that yielded nearly 40 songs as well as the music for a stage version ofLord Of The Rings. The band assures us that the stage production's dark themes influenced the material here, but we'll have to take their word for it since the singing is (as usual) in Finnish.Mieroalso benefits from the production guidance of Aija Puurtinen, one of the great vocal coaches and singers in Finland, thus ensuring that the band¹s signature vocal harmonies sound better than ever. The music, on the other hand, continues to fuse traditional accordion and bouzouki with such modern touches as big pop choruses and a rock drum kit. Varttina has always been a band that challenges itself and its audience, and here is more proof of it. ­--Tad Hendrickson