Finland (the band) have no riffs, minimal vocals and come from Norway.
Nowadays any band of this ilk will usually be branded as 'post-rock' or else labelled as 'cinematic'. The latter would be more accurate here given the crescendo-light nature of the five tracks.
Of course, such tags are ultimately meaningless and are really only useful as a critical short hand to help listeners locate related artists ('if you like this you'll love....')
As far as this album goes, I'd personally tag it as 'creative noodling' but if you prefer to go with the record label's spiel, "it serves as documentation of the point where different musical paths and dialogues intersect in the band at this particular time".
You can imagine the tracks coming together out of lengthy improvisation and its centrepiece is the fourteen minute No Low Voices, a meandering piece which constantly threatens to descend into pure noise yet somehow keeps some semblance of a musical shape, albeit in a very organic manner.
Finland consists of four musicians who have individually been involved in countless other bands on the Norwegian music scene. The members are guitarist Ivar Grydeland, drummer Pal Hausken, Morten Qvenild on keys and electronics and bassist Jo Berger Myhre.
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The band project has existed since 2010 and is described as being "more as a result of excess enthusiasm than of necessity". They have obviously not been in any rush to put out material for public consumption as this is their debut release. It was recorded at Parachute Studio in Oslo.
Rainy Omen, the title tune, is the only track with vocals but since the words consist solely of the title repeated you won't need to bother deciphering the song's meaning from its lyrics.
The other tracks Dust Drive, George Lumineux and Magnetic Sail have a pleasingly random quality.
This is fine as long as you're not looking for an album with a message or hummable tunes and it would be a nice record to put as background music at your next hipster dinner party.
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