Band:	HamaSaari
Album:	Ineffable
Style:	Progressive rock, Progressive metal
Release date:	March 2023

01. Different Time
02. Crumbs
03. Lords
04. Bleak
05. White Pinnacles
06. Old Memories
07. Prognosis

Ineffable is technically a debut album, but it’s not of the usual kind; although this is the first record released under the HamaSaari name, the musicians comprising this band have released music together previously as part of Shuffle. Effectively constituting a rebrand, HamaSaari represents a stark shift of this line-up’s sights, veering away from nu-metallish alt and towards a more melancholic, progressive sound.

The Shuffle project lasted for around a decade, so the individuals in HamaSaari have plenty of experience working together. However, following the release of Shuffle’s #WontTheyFade?, the quintet decided that a ‘ground zero’ reset was required, and opted to end Shuffle and instead launch HamaSaari, a name apparently taken from that of an island in Finland. I don’t know how accurate this is, as the only search results that come up when I try to find this album are reviews of Ineffable stating that the band is named after the island, but apparently this island is too beautiful to describe in words, hence the decision to name the album Ineffable. While the album itself isn’t beyond description, it is quite a serene and enriching listen.

While there is still a clear metallic edge to several songs on Ineffable, HamaSaari have shifted more towards rock; this is one of those albums, like those from bands such as Riverside and Caligula's Horse, that lurks in the overlap between progressive rock and progressive metal, but in this instance much closer to the former. The group’s louder side can be heard first up with “Different Time”, albeit not immediately so; a quasi-ambient intro of sustained guitar notes gradually shifts into a verse that still draws upon more muted, subtly emotive sounds. It’s in the chorus where the distortion is dialled up and singer Jordan Jupin injects some more force into his vocals; still, even then, it’s quite a measured injection of volume, with the only really muscular riffing in the song’s outro.

Some listeners might pick up on hints of Klone in the album’s sound, which could be due to the involvement of Klone’s Guillaume Bernard in the production. Another person involved in the album’s production is Forrester Savell for mixing and mastering; Savell has worked previously with Karnivool, and an uncanny resemblance to that group can be heard on “Crumbs”. The subdued bass groove, subtly textured clean passages and warm distorted sections very much have a Sound Awake vibe (think “Deadman” or “New Day”), as do Jupin’s vocals; I will say that there is some roughness in his delivery in softer parts of Ineffable compared to what one might expect from, say, Ian Kenny, which is one of the weaker aspects of this album, but at the same time, the instrumentals on this song come together so lushly that the song overall plays nicely to HamaSaari’s strengths.

I think Jupin’s slight vocal limitations on this album feel most notable on the softest songs, whether it’s almost celestial “Lords” (which has a bit of Porcupine Tree or Radiohead to it) or “Old Memories”, which definitely harbors some resemblance to Karnivool’s acoustic tracks; his vocal tone is pleasant, but notes seem to go slightly astray every so often. Nevertheless, it’s a big step up (at least in terms of my enjoyment) from the vocal style used on Shuffle’s final album. Musically, the rest of Ineffable’s heavy parts lie in “Bleak” and “White Pinnacles”; the former punctuates serene, textured mellowness with some tasteful overdriven tremolo and a darker, weightier bridge, while the latter goes full prog-metal with the kind of keyboard-accompanied aggression that can be encountered on Opeth’s Ghost Reveries (to the extent that a few growls/screams pop up midway through).

HamaSaari don’t necessarily replicate any of these influences to the level of the inspiring groups; for example, “Crumbs” doesn’t quite evolve to the kind of emotional peak Karnivool may have taken the same material to back in their Sound Awake writing days. Still, they’re very capable of channeling each of the different vibes on the album; the mellower parts are lush and replete with intelligent instrumental layering, the louder riffs pack a punch, and they deliver the technicality and aggression necessary when they go all out of “White Pinnacles”. There’s good potential shown by the band on Ineffable, and if they can polish the vocals a bit and maybe allow certain songs to grow longer to reach more powerful emotional climaxes, they could come up with something quite lovely with their next effort.