What we got here is a 10-song DVD album, with a music video made for each song. The pictorial side makes one continuous story, like a short movie, but I'm not sure, if the musical side does the same, because the lyrics aren't printed.

Joint Depression hail from Oulu, Finland. Their craft is alternative metal/rock. And that, my friends, doesn't say much! In the band's musical creations, rock, blues and metal music styles come out as one. Just do not wait they've gone all trendy and started to ape Volbeat... No, JD sound much more real, more soulful.

Joint Depression have scooped their musical influences from various genres. Alternative rock/metal is one, and the Tool influence can be heard immediately from the opening intro kind of the song 'Home'. Finnish band CMX must have been a big paragon, too. Similarly strong vocal melodies can be heard on some JD's song. Due to these influences this gets somewhat progressive at times, but still in rock music model. The vocals too remind me of CMX's A.W. Yrjänä; kind of fragile yet strong. The singing skills aren't perfect, but there's some "seeking of a right note". However, they fit with the music and are a vital element of it all. Quite a lot of female vocals are heard too, but often in the background.

Stoner and grunge rock elements both play a huge role in JD's music. Sometimes it feels like this was a Finnish equivalent for some Mojave Desert bands. But this happens on taiga and tundra, and temperatures are mandatorily much, much lower... No, there's no black metal elements here! But death metal, yes; 'Nobody's Home' contains some nasty and dirty bits of that. I definitely hear some Kyuss and Alice In Chains (both new and old) on some of the songs. Lots of fuzzy, old-time sounds and effects are utilized. This ties 1960s to 2010's together in a way. Shit, at times it's like non-commercial Von Hertzen Brothers! I do not care much about 'em brothers, but still there are similarities between these this and them, no matter how I try to tell my brain there isn't.

The album is heavy here and there, but mainly it is rather calm and even dreamlike, but oppressive. A couple of acoustic parts and a song with female vocals was included. The band's mixture of influences does work. It works better than I at first expected, and the album is fifty-fifty rocking and atmospheric (meaning it's both catchy and challenging). It's tight or loose; whatever is required.

The movie part is a kind of Aki Kaurismäki type thing. It tells a tragic story, it's slow in narration, doesn't include conversation (okay, Aki's movies at least has some) and it mixes different cultures. Finnish meets western, and that's not saying that Finland is a communist country, but "western" meaning cowboys. There's only some movie sounds here, by the way (birds singing, car motor and such). The 38 minutes long making of the movie includes alcohol, girls, alcohol, gay pride, alcohol, flour gun and alcohol. And some more alcohol. Funny extra, if you ask me, together with the making of the album, which is only around 6 minutes long, plus the special extra Lego video for guys' other band Foreskin Rollers.

So, it's in DVD format and isn't listenable in every system. I personally still listen to music via CD while driving my trusty old automobile, so this cannot be tested in it. Generally, if you're interested to hear a distinct blend of musical influences, comprising from alternative/grunge/stoner styles, you might find a gem here. Yes, for acquired taste, this one. This kind of releases are rare, and this one shows it can work well. I wonder if 2 beer mats (cheers!!!) that followed the album was meant to be some kind of hints for how to listen/watch to this?

Rating: 7 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
02/19/2015 23:55