Onségen Ensemble – “Realms” | Progressive Rock Central.com

The Onségen Ensemble is a progressive rock band from Northern Finland. They create folky, progressive rock music, mixed well with heavy metal guitars, orchestration, and then add the nuanced flavors of horns, didgeridoo and flutes, to help diversify their sound. They released their latest album, Realms, on November 10, 2022.

Their melodies and music on Realms, remind me, at times, of the “spaghetti western”, movie soundtracks of the 1960s; like Ennio Morricone or Luis Bacalov. That’s not a bad comparison at all for a band.

The Onségen Ensemble, states about Realms, “You cannot describe it. You cannot picture it. You cannot admire it. You cannot sense it. It is your true self, it has nowhere to hide. When the world is destroyed, it will not be destroyed”.

The band is made up of: Pasi Anttila, on Didgeridoo; Vilho Hintermeier, on Ocarina; Esa Juujärvi, on vocals, bass, and Mellotron; Merja Järvelin, on vocals; Samuli Lindberg, on drums and percussion; Joni Mäkelä, on guitar; Mikko Vuorela, on saxophone, flute, and guitar; and Jarmo Väärä, on trumpet.

They use a choir on the track: “The Ground of Being”. The choir members include: Tiina Ahlroos, Marika Heikkilä, Johanna Karhu, Tiia Savolainen, Jenni Siljander, Kati Teirikko, Veera Törmikoski and Satu Viuhkola-Paananen.

This is a deep, emotional and contemplative album which you can enjoy on either headphones or without, but it sounds much better without outside interference. At times it is very quiet and soul searching.

Realms, is the 4th full-length release from Onségen Ensemble. It follows up on their successful discography, which also has a strong cinematic feel to it. There exist many Eastern rhythms and sounds and influences as well.

“The Sleeping Lion” is the best song on the album. It opens with the sound of steel drums, then they add horns, didgeridoo and flutes, to make it sound even grander. The song also contains the most lyrical content on the album. The tracks on the album flow well into each other, like a continuous motion, without break. Taking you back to the feeling you had listening to Dark Side of the Moon.

The next track, “Naked Sky” has a wonderful flute introduction that would make Ian Anderson jealous. An over ten minute song, where, the melody repeats often, and that spaghetti western feel. The horns and choirs humming, only help add to that narrative. The eastern sounds and guitar playing, are some of the best on the album. This mostly instrumental track; besides the choirs, is an excellent song for contemplation. The digeridoo is wonderful, mixed with the flute near the end.

“Abysmal Sun”, is another of the best songs on the album. It opens with a very cool guitar chord introduction, then humming choirs, and percussion, which almost sounds like stirrups rotating. They add bells, horns, bass, and strings, to seriously lift the sound and power, of the track. Then, they hit you will metal guitars and blasting drums.

“Collapsing Star”, opens with more steel drums, which also closed “Abysmal Sun”. The guitar chords that follow are wonderful and western in sound. A 50s/60s guitar chord sound that takes center stage, and leads the lyrics and vocals for this track. The horns return, with more powerful drums percolating. Female vocals helps add another dimension to this song. This one is much more dramatic and vocally powerful than the others that preceded. The wonderful horns and flute work are welcomed; bringing back memories of early King Crimson and others from that era.

“The Ground of Being” opens with guitar chords and digeridoo in the background. The choirs are powerful and bring rich sound. Another of the albums’ best tracks. The horns lead this one full force.

“I’m Here No Matter What”, is a guitar-driven rocker, full of bristling electric guitar at its opening. Over 7 minutes of terrific guitar oriented rock, with powerful drums magnifying the sound. The guitar solo is well worth its weight in gold.

“The Sleeping Lion” is a return to the first song; this time without the few lyrics from the first track. An over 6 minute instrumental.

Realms was produced by Jaime Gomez Arellano and Onségen Ensemble. The album was recorded at Space Studios and Hell-Fi Studios in 2022. It was mixed and mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano.

This is a great introduction to the power and majesty of what is the Onségen Ensemble. Realms is easily accessible, and a great listening album to sit back and ponder. Worthwhile music to which you can enjoy relaxing. I am happy I found this band and would easily recommend Realms, to any of my readers. A great change of pace from what you have probably have been listening to over the years, or definitely this year. Give Onségen Ensemble a try, you cannot go wrong with this album, Realms.

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