Tornadon Silmässä

The word ‘vimma’ means ‘frenzy’ in Finnish and this young band’s frenzy is against climate change and the despoliation of nature. The album’s title, Tornadon Silmässä, means ‘In the Eye of the Tornado’ and it’s about the sense of peace that vocalist Eeva Rajakangas gets when she is at the heart of a demonstration of some sort. She and composer/violinist Pessi Jouste are involved in Elokapina, the Finnish equivalent of Extinction Rebellion, and are frequently stopping traffic, protecting forests and, most dramatically, blocking a Russian coal train travelling across Finland. The song ‘Antrasiitille’ (For Anthracite) is the most powerful on the album (with a striking video too) and linked to the train demonstration. She sings over frenetic fiddling and insistent drumming as she repeats the words ‘kun vuosii palaa’ (decades burning) over and over again.

Vimma describe their music as ‘progressive folk’, but folk is more a description of the function of music in spreading a message than its sound. There are some folk ingredients, but also rock and contemporary sounds.

Some of the songs, like the anthracite one, and ‘Kasveille’ (For Plants) are very clear in their message, but others, like the opening ‘Maailmanloppu’ (The End of the World) are rather more opaque, but in this case very beautiful. This song is also included in German and English. Vimma are one of the most dynamic bands addressing the climate crisis.