Baulta are back! After a hiatus of almost 6,5 years the Finnish instrumental band released Another Second Chance and if you liked the sound and warmth of their previous releases, you can let out a sigh of relief, you will like this record as well.
After forming in December of 2008, Esa (drums), Janne (bass), Iiro (guitar) & Matti (guitar) released Deeply sorry to interrupt your megalomania (2011), That’s my house you’re living in (2012), The greatest solos of Mr. Bellini vol.1 (2013) and probably their most well-known record, Any Fool Can Regret Yesterday (2014).
The album starts off with “Third”. An ambient guitar, almost alarm-like, sounds in the distance and lures the listener in. A lush blanket of piano and bass immediately sets a melancholy tone while the tom led drum beat slowly picks up and moves the song along, leading to a heavier, slightly distorted guitar that tucks the listener in and prepares them for a great listen. The piano melody floats on as a common theme. A great album opener that gives reassurance to Baulta fans, your favorite band is back! The song falls back to just piano, some ambient guitar and bass before the toms pick back up and lead into a heavier ending of the song where all the elements from earlier in the song blend in to mesmerize the listener, without ever getting really loud. The song lingers on, sparingly floating around melody notes until it moves into the second song “While The World Sleeps”.
That second track starts of with a simple but effective key pattern while strings fill out the sound to a lullaby almost. Gentle guitar are sprinkled on top to create an easy listening intro to the song, before falling back to just strings and a slightly heavier guitar riff. The drums create some tension and slight aggression together with a great melodic bass line. The punctuation of the drums, guitar and bass is great. The guitar slowly moving up the scale and taking the listener up a mountain where the view keeps getting better. Then the feeling of the song suddenly changes and the listener is moved to feel more contemplating, is this the right way to go, do I want to go that way, where will it lead? The toms, bass, keys and guitar create a big and embracing sound. Around the 5-minute-mark, the pace picks up, the listener has found the way and is confidently moving forward! The song ends on the great bass riff again, it is intense, but never really loud. The instruments stay balanced and can be picked out separately. Great songwriting and great production. “While The World Sleeps” ends with ambient sounds, guitars mostly. It almost sounds like an interlude, spanning nearly two minutes, introducing a sweet guitar pattern to round off the song. It provides the listener with a moment to gather his or her thoughts.
“My Golden Cage” introduces an introspective piano melody that carries the other instruments. The drums are very heavy on toms, which gives the Baulta sound a lot of low end. A simple but very effective double guitar riff is introduced, supported by rim driven drums, the bass guitar takes over the riff before the guitars come back. An explosion of guitars opens up the aggressive sounding riff with a changing drum pattern that will certainly get the heads banging at live shows. This is probably the loudest Baulta gets on Another Second Chance, but it still feels controlled and purposeful, blending most elements of the song together in a grand finale.
The record continues with “Hardly Even Here”. A song with a slower pace. The listener can get some breath. It is a beautiful song, driven by almost drone like bass and lingering slightly distorted guitar and a mesmerizing piano part. It has very little drums and put layers upon layers to become quite “big”. Preparing the listener for the final song of the records, “Long May Reign”.
A singled out drum pattern kicks off “Long May Reign”, a slowly building song, with bass and guitar swells supporting a great guitar dream like melody. The song turns when the drums transitions to a drum part with aggressive accents, taking the rest of the instruments into a heavier part of the song. The kick drums pick up noticeably and pushes the guitars and bass. The drums and guitar riffs remind me of a forceful sea hitting the coastline. Half way through, around 4:30 (it is the longest song of the record), the song falls back into one of the most beautiful parts of Another Second Chance. Tom-driven drums, a great bass melody and beautifully intertwining guitar and piano melodies feel lush and feel like they could go on forever and never become dull or boring. “Long May Reign” ends in an epic exploding of emotive melodies and takes the listener to great heights before ending the record on a great riff played in unison, as to make a point, we are still here.
Another Second Chance is a great comeback album from Baulta, although feeling a bit short at 36 minutes and 56 seconds. It is a warm, lush and reassuring feeling record that will please Baulta lovers, and surprise listeners new to their music.
