KTU in Helsinki
A trio, all veterans of the music scene, with their unique sound, and they produce a sound wall powerful enough to give you a new hairdo – no, you are wrong, I´m not talking about Motörhead.
And right from the start it was clear that there wasn´t much of the typical Metal audience coming for KTU – Kimmo POHJONEN, accordion and voice, Trey GUNN, Warr-guitar, and Pat MASTELOTTO, drums. Not quite a bad thing, as you had no problems to reach the very front row, no showing or pushing, not even at the bar (!!), and no long queues in the bathrooms – you hardly ever find such a crowded Tavastia Club that “civilised”.
At least not IN FRONT of the stage. ON stage there was much less “civilisation” and much more action. Initially KTU blew a real heavy sound into the audience, booming bass, brutal drumming, bombastic melodies and heavy riffs, the latter rather produced by an accordion. Metalheads might really have enjoyed that. Despite the fact that an accordion is somewhat clumsy, Kimmo was moving around a lot, and occasionally got almost too close to people the front row, or their drinks they had put on the stage.
Something special was the band´s dress code, too, despite drummer Pat all had taken to skirts. But one of the most outstanding features was Trey Gunn´s Warr-guitar that unites bass and guitar and in the hands of a virtuoso produces incredible cool sounds. Especially the bass could compete with a Mr. Kilmister´s. And indeed, a bit rougher sounds are quite familiar to all of the KTU guys, as Pat and Trey had played with King Crimson and Kimmo with Ismo Alanko in his early Punk/Rock project.
You could feel and see the fun those three had on stage, they partly improvised or “showed off” (e.g. using the bellow for percussion); the way Kimmo uses his voice as instrument that gives him the air of a shaman – that all contributed to the incredible energy that conquered the crowd and made it impossible to stand still.
With Samuli Kosminen (samples, percussion) from “Kluster”-projekt (and album) as special guest the mood cooled down a bit and became more atmospheric, and they played some older tracks, e.g. “Optikus”. Kosminen recorded live on stage samples of Kimmo´s voice and accordion and looping them, so the more and more complex live sound made it more and more difficult to identify the sound sources, although you were standing right in front of the stage.
The final part was pretty rough again, and if this means that after their “8 armed monkey” CD KTU get heavier on their new album (that is currently mixed at Finnish Seawolf-Studios), I can definitely recommend it to all Prog Rock fans.
A very fascinating gig, spiced up with a great light show, friendly vibes and some humour (e.g. loops of chicken cackling, perhaps a reference to Kimmo´s Earch Machine / Motor Music Project). So the audience wanted more, and first they got a typical accordion tune, a Polka, then Kimmo showed his skill on a mouth organ. But after a rather rocking “Kohtu” it was over – unfortunately. I can only recommend to check out KTU when they stop nearby your town!
KTU Playlist:
-New piece, untitled
-new piece: Kataklasm
-New piece, untitled
-New piece, untitled
-Absinthe
-New piece, untitled
-New piece: Snow Reader
-Optikus
-New piece: Bloody Clown
-New piece, untitled
-Voima
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-polkka
-Untamed Chicken
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-kohtu
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