Mumrunner - Yearning Heart (2025)

I can hardly wrap my head around it, but it's already almost a decade since I discovered my favourite Finnish shoegazey-dream popey band through their brilliant Gentle Slopes EP. Time flies when you're not looking... Luckily the Tampere-based group still does their signature light but moody, melodic but airy take on the haziest of music genres.

I like how carefree and soft the music sounds. There's certainly some element of twee and lo-fi music in here, although probably in the spirit, not necessarily in the form because the album sounds well-developed and -made. Most of the time it's the melodies and the easy-listening vibes that matter, making the whole thing sounding like a younger sister of Pia Fraus. It's definitely not about the noisy element. But it doesn't mean that there are no disruptions. There are and they always catch attention, like the change of the tone in Violet or the sudden stop of Hawkeye.

Yearning Heart costs 9 EUR.

Check: Violet 

Country: Finland

Genre: melodic dream pop

Mumrunner - Valeriana (2020)

Mumrunner - Gentle Slopes EP (2016)

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Void of Hope - Proof of Existence (2025)

The best post-metal album with blackgaze inclinations released in the first quarter of 2025? I'll take the Finnish debutants (under this moniker, not in general)'s Proof of Existance over Deafheaven's Lonely People With Power every time. Not only because I think the American powerhouse's one is mid at best, Void of Hope genuinely created something breathtakingly beautiful.

Released by the Italian label Avantgarde Music, the album was created from scratch in five days "in the studio with -30°, -35° outside and in complete darkness for most of the day". Can you imagine something more Finnish? But the most important thing is that the music that came out of this session is extremely hot. Energetic. Euphoric. The best words to describe a good blackgaze album although I'm not 100% sure the band aimed for this (the genre tags on Bandcamp don't enourage this opinion). Nevertheless, for a blackgaze fanboy like myself, a great blackgaze release, even an accidental one is nothing to sniff at.

Just listen to Gift of Life or the monumental The Hollow Hymn. The atmosphere here is so dense, I could swear I felt like in a sauna when listening to it. This is the way the artists talk about "a journey through mental health and depression" that are a common thing for anyone who experienced existing. I feel better already after listening to Proof of Existence.

Proof of Existence costs 6 EUR.

Check: Gift of Life

Country: Finland

Genre: blackgazey post-metal

Label: Avantgarde Music

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Cats of Transnistria - IV (2025)

POV: A band checks all your personal boxes to catch your interest. Having a great, unusual name; being from a beautiful and unusual place; and most importantly, creating magical music. No wonder that the Helsinki-based Cats of Transnistria have appeared on this blog many times already and it is safe to say that with every new album they will be featured here too. 

Because the band's dream pop is how this should be done. And since it's been already 6 (!) years since their previous (and my favourite!) album, I had to post about IV. Henna Emilia Hietamäki and Tuomas Alatalo have a great ability of creating moody, intimate dreamy tracks that do not shy away from using lightly louder guitars as it is the case in very old-school rock like parts of Thunder as an Arrow (no wonder that the video to this track looks like taken from the 90s.). I appreciate that, but still my favourites are the songs that mesmerize with repetitive structure and airy atmosphere. Like Horrors, a beautiful little nightmare.

And so the dream finally comes to an end with the extremely airy Ceiling of Stars and one can only want to go back. The cosy, very artistic and drawing from other genres dream pop from Finland is quite addictive.

IV costs 7 EUR.

Check: Horrors

Country: Finland

Genre: art dream pop

Label: Soliti

Cats of Transnistria - Aligning (2019)

Cats of Transnistria - Opium (2018)

Cats of Transnistria - Divine (2016)

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shedfromthebody - Whisper and Wane (2025)

It's becoming a layman tradition that if it's a winter of an odd year, there's a new album from Suvi Savikko, better known as Shedfromthebody. And it surprise anyone as the Finnish artist's music is as dark as the long, freezing nights in Scandinavia and equally mysterious.

The artist's signature style stays the same: the more dreamy than nightmarish vocals play the main role not only to boost up the atmosphere, but also convey intriguing melodies (very Scandinavian dark pop-like) and disturbing lyrics. And the music stays decisively in the background, even if it is made with metal-like instruments, it is designed to accompany the vocals, but nothing more. While usually it's something that bothers me (I'm looking at you, Dry Cleaning), here it makes a perfect sense. It's like dark ambient backgrounds but played with real (I think) instruments. And also being a bit metal. Still, it works.

It should also be mentioned that Savikko is also a talented visual artist and she painted the cover art (and company pieces available to see at her Instagram) herself. They are also really good. And unsettling. But as Shedfromthebody describes herself: she's a "provider of immaculate vibes". Checks out.

Whisper and Wane costs 7 EUR.

Check: Mooring

Country: Finland

Genre: dark doomgaze

shedfromthebody - To Hold the Ripened Sun (2021)

shedfromthebody - A Dead and Aimless Hum (2020) 

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Julia Gjertsen & Juha Mäki-Patola - Dive (2023)

While known for collaborating in the past, for Julia Gjertsen and Juha Mäki-Patola, Dive makes the first longer (although not very long) album made together. The piano sounds from Norway and the electronic soundscapes from Finland make a stunning whole together.

The result of the collaboration can be described as beautiful "glimpse(s) of melancholic and emotive piano melodies mixed together with lush and ambient textures". Those are inspired by the beauty of the Scandinavian nature with the titles of the compositions referring to specific aspects they want to focus on. While the central part of this music certainly is the piano, its beauty is not all here. From my perspective, it works even better than it would in an empty space with the darker notes provided by the super subtle electronica, making the compositions include both the beauty and the sadness.

Dive costs 3.5 EUR (3 GBP).

Check: When the Birds Start to Leave

Country: Norway/Finland

Genre: piano neoclassical

Label: bigo & twigetti

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Radio Supernova - Paratiisi (2023)

The prime example of European psychedelic shoegaze music comes from the city of Tampere in Finland. Radio Supernova are back to the blog with their third album called Paratiisi and, as it's been two times already,  it could hardly be more exciting and mesmerizing a trip.

The cult-like vibes are strong on this one: from the fittingly psychedelic band's photo, the cover art to the album's title that translates to "Paradise". And this whole entourage is a perfect wrapping for the band's music. While it's loud and the guitars easily create this shoegaze-like noisy atmosphere, it's more about embracing the psychedelic rock formula and taking it to the new levels. I love how Kata Riikonen's vocals are exactly between the ethereal kind of dreamy music and the juicy psychedelia: they are both energetic and oneiric which is certainly not an easy thing to achieve. Not to mention that the Finnish language sounds perfect here: it's moody exotic vibes fit right into the obscurity of the artists' music.

And the music itself is as colourful as the cover art is. That's the exact opposition to minimalist music: a lot is going on every second, even in those rare ballad-like fragments, it's hard to focus on one element of the music at once. Which is literally perfect for an album the track titles of which translate to things like "Eternal Midsummer" and "At the neon party".

Paratiisi costs 7 EUR.

Radio Supernova - Takaisin (2021)

Radio Supernova - Tähtiin (2019)

Check: Läpi yön

Country: Finland

Genre: shoegazey psychedelic rock

Label: Soit Se Silti

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Florist - Kosket (2022)

I must say, although they have already four albums in their discography, I had never heard of Florist, the band from Finland, before. But it is time to make up for this as their new album called Kosket certainly delivers some brilliant post-rock pieces for the broader audience.

I have a feeling that the Finns draw tons of fun from being in the band. You can hear this kind of artsy enthusiasm in their music with many elements fitting each other somehow chaotically, but creating a coherent, lively whole. There's something from jazzy improvisation here, something from noise rock madness, something from the skillful art rock. I like how it all comes together in 4040, a track that can be especially loud in places, but also very subtle somewhere else. However, the album's longest track Miksi kosket humisevat, kun lähestymme says that the band is fluent in creating more traditional, highly atmospheric kind of post-rock and they are really good at it as well.

Kosket costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: 4040

Country: Finland

Genre: art post-rock

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Chamber of Reflection - Above the Clouds (2022)

Chamber of Reflection is a new band from Helsinki. The Finnish musician have released only a demo album, but it's especially well-done (I rarely post about demos so it means something). Although there's some sound quality issues, Above the Clouds surely is something to put on your speakers loud.

The band shows us their take on very noisy rock. The guitar-oriented music is filled with coarse and sharp sounds that are only strengthen by the demo-like lo-fi quality. But, as it fits the genre so well, I don't mind it at all. On top of that, the Finnish put the subtle, withdrawn vocals that sound like shadows do look: airy but clearly out there. This is the band's nod towards cold wave music they admit to be inspired by as well. However, the whole EP clearly is way closer to the noise pop scene and I appreciate that. It's def a band to have on your radar.

Above the Clouds costs 4 EUR.

Check: Above the Clouds

Country: Finland

Genre: cold noise rock

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WatchCamp November-December '21 with Ai fen, Pierre Andersson Ek, Avalon Skies, Hiroe, Sweet Sore

Ai fen - Can You Believe?

The Polish-Chinese Czech Republic-based artist is already fairly known in the offstream environment here. This time, she comes back with a new single that showcases her airy but also very much experimental electronic pop with outstanding vocals. The single costs 1 EUR (20 CZK).

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Pierre Andersson Ek - Vår värld

The "artist and neighborhood rascal" from the southern part of Sweden creates nugaze music that can be carefully compared to the icons such as Nothing or The Pains of Being Pure at Heart; his music consists of loud and noisy guitars (with such a good quality to them!) and melodic, soft vocals; I love it. Two tracks cost 6 EUR (56 SEK).

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Avalon Skies - Wanderer's Dream

Antti Pihlajaniemi creates "electronic yet organic, earthly yet otherworldly music" which translates to a blend of electronica and minimal dark folk with very dark and airy atmosphere, sounding very Finnish-like really. The original version includes a metal-like voice in spoken word parts, but, to be honest, I prefer the second, instrumental version. The two versions cost 2 EUR.

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Hiroe - demos

The Philadelphia-based fresh post-rock band released their demos, and while I'm usually very hesitant towards demo material, this time it absolutely rocks. Two tracks present so much good quality guitar-based instrumental music that I can't wait to hear some more from the Americans. The album costs 7 USD.

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Sweet Sore - Resonance

The South African artist Justin Mitchell has been releasing singles and short albums for several years now. His new single presents a moody bedroom dream pop with barely audible vocals and a lot of background drones. The single with a short intro costs whatever you want to pay.

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shedfromthebody - To Hold the Ripened Sun (2021)

Last year, Suvi Savikko and her music project completely swept me of my feet with her blackgaze ethereal masterpiece A Dead and Aimless Hum. I named her the best post-metal act of the year and I couldn't be more happy from the fact that only 12 months later, she's back with another record called To Hold the Ripened Sun.

The Finnish artist's "music paints a distorted, ethereal landscape, through which she carries her songs with hauntingly beautiful vocals and lone, wailing guitars". The second album sounds really like a followup to the debut with very similar atmosphere reached by the doom metal musician. She effortlessly combines the metal-like darkness and grandeur with the ethereal, oneiric vocals and slow pace of the more dreamy genres. As a result, her music is both goth and airy, doom-like and soothing. 

There are some tasty surprises, most notably In the Pines and its folk-like beginning that goes on as an Americana ballad with crunchy guitars and way clearer vocals. Or, my favourite part, the mesmerizing, very modern-sounding repetitive finish of Halfsorrow. I particularly like the quality of guitar sounds that, although very heavy, doom-like style, give a lot of room for the vocals to enchant their own, dreamy spells on the audience.

To Hold the Ripened Sun costs 10 EUR.

shedfromthebody - A Dead and Aimless Hum (2020)

Check: Halfsorrow

Country: Finland

Genre: ethereal blackgaze

Label: Black Terror Records

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Horte - Maa antaa yön vaientaa (2021)

There's some dreamy/shoegaze projects from Finland I really enjoy and now, after the likes of Radio Supernova and Mumrunner, it's time for the quartet called Horte. The band released their third album Maa antaa yön vaientaa via Pelagic Records this summer and there's no reason not to try it if you are an ethereal music fan. 

The album's title, as far as I understand, translates roughly to "The earth lets the night shut (itself?) down", referring to the darker but also calmer take on the dreamy music they go with. There's not so much of traditional guitar noise here, the airy vibes come mostly from the atmospheric vocals singing in Finnish (it's always something that in my mind adds to the mystery and attractiveness of foreign music) while music is something that borders slowcore-like indie rock or trip-hop with the way it draws from electronica-influenced backgrounds and experimental add-ons. This concoction makes it feel not only very fresh but also extremely artsy, you can see that the musicians must know well what they do.

In this view, Kun joki haihtuu is a special track, the first that shows the louder, the noisier side of the project, the one that is soaked with the unnerving but also exciting atmosphere. Together with Väisty tieltä they create a satisfying and very shoegaze-like finish, which only proves there's little the band can't carry out.

Maa antaa yön vaientaa costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Kun joki haihtuu

Country: Finland

Genre: trip-hop shoegaze

Label: Pelagic Records

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Baulta - Another Second Chance (2021)

The Finnish band Baulta make their heavily guitar-based music for 10 years now, the debut album, Deeply Sorry to Interrupt Your Megalomania was released back in 2011. To mark this important anniversary, they created an album with rather deceitful (for a band of that impressive history) title Another Second Chance.

I don't have to give the Finns another second chance, I like their music already, with Any Fool Can Regret Yesterday being considered one of the best of 2014. Having said that, the new one may be the best one yet. It's all due to the perfectly executed way of putting the focus on the dark and heavy atmosphere here. There's little riff-racing among the guitarists, rather the music makes a melancholic, tear-jerking space for emotions. It is achieved also by introducing some very light, piano-like notes that contrast with the background, uniform darkness like stars do on a night sky, especially impressively in the album's opener in Third.

Another emotional moments come with the noisy collapse of My Golden Cage, the very post-rock-like summit of the wall of noise brings satisfaction and a lot of feelings that are difficult to describe. The overall message here is positive though, although the albums is meant to be "a journey from the beauty of a birth to the struggle of self-awareness" (not so subtly hinted in Hardly Even Here's finish), its description ends with an uplifting "Even the longest night will end and the sun will rise".

Another Second Chance costs 7 EUR.

Check: My Golden Cage

Country: Finland

Genre: dark post-rock

Label: dunk!records

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Radio Supernova - Takaisin (2021)

Finnish "mansegaze," or particularly psychedelic shoegaze, is back with the Tampere-based Radio Supernova releasing their second album with which they prove the psychedelic rock scene is theirs to take it. Takaisin includes at least as good quality music as it was with the band's debut.

This is the kind of colourful shoegaze that preserves the noise music/soothing (but also, paradoxically, punkish) vocals ratio but at the same time is more focused on the psychedelia of the rich music layer, creating a guitar-based maze that engages the audience with ease. It's also a fast album with Tammikuu already setting the pace that is only built on by songs like Väkivaltaa that is simply created to dance to. Even if the dance is wide and chaotic. On the other hand, you can hardly say the music here lacks atmosphere. The guitar sounds create a layer that is impenetrable and thick as hell, and also that combines loudness with melody, especially in the longer tracks like Kadoksiin and in the piano-based noise of Utopia.

The album is a good continuation of the debuting Tähtiin. Same vibes, same atmosphere but at the same time no feeling of repetitiveness. No wonder that the album's title translates to "Again". Also, no wonder, the album's one of the best scoring release of 2021 as far according to Rate Your Music.

Takaisin costs 6 EUR.

Radio Supernova - Tähtiin (2019)

Check: Utopia 

Country: Finland

Genre: psychedelic shoegaze

Label: Soit Se Silti

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shedfromthebody - A Dead and Aimless Hum (2020) EN

Shedfromthebody is a "spooky baby" from Finland and it seems that those origins are well audible in her music. The artist released recently her debut album and, damn, is A Dead and Aimless Hum good.

On one hand shoegazing vocals and atmosphere, on the other clear doom vibes, this is the music served by the Finn. And then there are inspiration drawn from dark folk, blackgaze, etc. Interesting combo, in practice, it sounds like a darker, slower version of shoegaze created with delicately guitar-based but atmosphere-filled music. I was slightly afraid that the doom influences would sound kitschy but it quickly came to me that it's completely opposite - the Scandinavian, metal spirit makes the album more complex and it's no wonder that it was recommended by Violet Cold himself.

Those inspirations sometimes are better visible (as in the fueled with very metal guitar sounds Sol) but to me, the most important songs are those that could as well be featured on Chelsea Wolfe's Hiss Spun , as the great Curl and Cherubian Hand. Very, very good debut.

A Dead and Aimless Hum costs 10 EUR.

Check: Cherubian Hand

Country: Finland

Genre: dark folk doomgaze

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Mumrunner - Valeriana (2020) EN

Finally, the Finish hope of dream pop, Mumrunner from Tampere released their debut long play. Although they built their name already with the Gentle Slopes EP, it's only now that we can admire their admire to the Estonian Pia Fraus in a longer form on Valeriana.

The Scandinavians play unpretensious dream pop which means the melody and joy of twee pop juxtaposed with the airiness and guitar-saturation of shoegazing rock. So it's very atmospheric, which is greatly helped by the omnipresent backing vocals, but also pugnacious and charming. And very catchy, the band themselves suggest that this is their strongest side saying that they"have always been eager to write memorable melodies, and we are able to show even stronger and fuller melody lines".

Since their beginnings, the band's line-up changed a lot. And although my favourite song by Mumrunner still is the years old Gentle Slopes, it's bravely contested now by such hits as Foe, Easy Life, Transient or instrumental Valeriana. If the quarantine is ever going to end, they will be one of my main gigs to catch somewhere in Europe.

Valeriana costs 7 USD.

Check: Foe

Country: Finland

Genre: melodic dream pop
Label: Shelflife Records

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Cats of Transnistria - Aligning (2019) EN

The dreamlike Cats of Transnistria are regular guests on the blog so I won't digress on whether or not there are in fact cats in Transnistria. The most important is that the Finns couldn't get left out after they released the new album called Aligning .

The band rom the North's style didn't changed much through the years. This is the next instance of dealing with Tuomas Alatalo's gloomy guitar compositions that are closer to some experimental bluesmen like Brother Grimm that to "normal" pop/rocks. Secondly, the airy and at the same time emotional vocals by Henna Emilia Hietamäki plus the super climatic violins from Sanna Komi.

Another characteristic trait of their music are long, never-in-hurry and always poignant compositions like the single track Mountain High. This music could perhaps be defined as instrumental version of the ambient Grouper-esque pop with a huge deal of the Scandinavian melancholy (just try to listen to The Light and not get teary).

Aligning kosztuje (6 EUR).

Cats of Transnistria - Divine (2016) EN

Cats of Transnistria - Opium (2018) EN

Check: The Light

Country: Finland

Genre: dark folk

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K-X-P - IV (2019) EN

It's unbelievable but the Helsinki-based Finns have never been on my blog yet. It's a huge mistake as their fourth album (III Part 2) is one o my favourite around-electronics works ever. Now K-X-P is back with their sixth album called, to mess with everyone around, IV.

Just like the previous albums, it's filled with a combination of electronic music up to dub with industrial atmosphere and sacral, difused vocals. It's this mixture that caught my attention and I'm happy they don't go away from their style. The album is made of three tracks but the first one, Nimetön Tie, is actually an alum of its own - with sudden changes in pace, composition and atmosphere, while the third one ends the whole thing with wonderfully mesmerizing and pulsating sequence. 

IV costs 7 EUR.

Check: Nimetön Tie

Country: Finland

Genre: industrial dub

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Radio Supernova - Tähtiin (2019) EN

The Fins from Radio Supernova came up with their own genre to define their music, as I found in the album's announcements, they say that shoegaze and dream pop is for losers and they play mansegaze. So be it. The important thing is that it sounds brilliant.

So what's this mansegaze anyway? The artists again: "it combines buzzing guitars with pop hooks and worldly themes." What in this case is the difference between this and the "traditional" shoegaze? Perhaps it's the pugnacity of the guitars that are not only very loud but also pretty fast and aggressive. Or maybe it's the reappearing all over the place psychedelic vibe. Still, I'd say it's "just" shoegaze on a really high, world class level.

Within the album's thick and catchy shoegaze, one can pick up some particularly well-done tracks. Like Sykli that's extremely loud but also pace-changing, or the energetic and catchy Myöhemmin, or Kyyti that develops into spine-thrilling uproar in the end.

Tähtiin costs 5 EUR.

Check: Kyyti

Country: Finland

Genre: psychedelic shoegaze

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Junkyard Shaman - Out Of Body Experience (2017) EN

An album "recorded with guitar and junk", couldn't be another way, it was created by the magic touch of the Junkyard Shaman - Jere Kilpinen. The Finn is on of those artists who are not able to be still in one project but instead their creativity forces them to run around different forms of self-expression. Junkyard Shaman is one the intimate ones.

The whole album is created from drone sounds drilling into consciousness and bringing nostalgia and sadness. You can taste some of this Scandinavian vastness, some of the lack (or, as this case, probably excess) of light and some of this northern wind.

It tells the story of pain and fading away, about the existential problems we all have to live and deal with until the end. With Junkyard Shaman's music in the background.

"Out Of Body Experience" costs 4 EUR.

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Kairon; IRSE! - Ruination (2017) EN

I have to say that I'm a big fan of "Ujabasajuba", the previous album by the Finnish psychodelic Kairon; IRSE!, and their "Amsterdam" is one of my favourite favourite tracks (it's even one of my favourite tracks called "Amsterdam", together with the Polish Negatyw's famous song). The band with the crazy name is back with new material marked with a bifurcate tree and, as always in similar cases, I have mixed feelings - from pleasant disappointment (because it proves that the last album was THAT good) to a high dose of hope (because this one can still easily start to amaze me eventually).

The characteristic traits of K;I! are long, mad compositions and the vocalist (Dmitry Melet)'s pleasant falset. They are noticeable from the very beginning with first two tracks being almost half an hour long and attacking with crazy sounds that somehow, when put together, create a perfect whole. And Melet, although perhaps doesn't sound like in my favourite "Amsterdam", still shows his skills, especially in "Starik". And, songs in Russian are another special thing for the band from Finland (where the Russian minority is quite notable).

"Ruination" takes its time to show everything it has. But eventually it impresses you with its guitar madness and rapid pace changing. And then you can go back to "Ujubasajuby" for a while too. It's a shame the band doesn't leave their country to play gigs.

The album costs 7 EUR.

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