I probably mentioned it more than once before, but I'll mention it again - I always like bands with a different and especially with their own approach of creating music. Nosdrama, a 3-piece band from Tampere, seem to accomplish this definition.
To a certain degree you might want to call it 'metal' what Nosdrama are playing, but I would rather say that they have many other influences in their style. The thing that's most striking is the melancholic atmosphere they convey in their music though. I recommend to listen to this album on some rainy autumn day - not in summer, even if there can be rainy summer days as well.
With 'Cold trails, long roots' the band now released its debut album after two demo releases in 2004 and 2005. Even if this doesn't sound like a long musical career, one can hear the elaborate songwriting experience the members seem to have. After all the album comprises about 50 minutes of music with epic songs that are breaking the 9-minute border.
Already the opener "Xen omm" offers an interesting pattern of heavy riffs and calmer parts. Even if this does not affect the music negatively, I have to mention that throughout the album it's sometimes rather hard to understand the lyrics if you don't have the booklet and read what vocalist/guitarist Ari is actually singing. That's at least one thing they could work on.
To name some highlights of the album, I would pick "Things that made the pain" first of all because it was the first song which left a positive overall impression when I listened to the album for the first time. A great melancholic ballad which never seems to lose the sad feeling throughout the song. The whole atmosphere is increased by some harmonic synths in the background.
While it seems to me that songs like the aforementioned are the strenght of this band, there are even more outstanding compositions on this album like the title track "Cold trails, long roots". This one keeps the overall dreary feeling of the album, but has some heavier parts which fit in there quite well and add a certain variety to the song. Keeping the same pace would be rather boring, after all this is no funeral doom metal :) What I like most about this song are the vocals, as I have to admit that if I have to criticize something on this album, it's probably the vocals on several songs. Sometimes, especially on "From north" or on other slower passages, they sound a bit too monotonous to me. Even if this was intended, it can be improved.
Nevertheless, Nosdrama managed to convince me with their ability to create something on their own. Maybe it's the natural Finnish melancholy they put in their songs or maybe something else, but still I like the approach of taking a step away from metal into a completely different direction. As I mentioned before, this is perfect music for some rainy, grey autumn day. Nosdrama definately have the potential to compose great songs.

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