The Nest – Ad Astra

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Holy Shit! When this Aabum first starting playing I thought it was OM. If you haven’t heard OM it’s the bassist from SLEEP’S project. If you don’t know who SLEEP is quit reading this and come back after! Let us return to THE NEST. They are a three piece alternative rock band form Finland. The vocalist is from America though. She is such a breath of fresh air for me. Her melodies have a very eastern flair to them, which suits the ambience of THE NEST perfectly. She also handles keyboard duties. Tuomas Villikka handles drums and guitar and Markus Lehtinen handles bass.

I am confused why the band calls themselves stoner rock, but I also kind of understand. This release may be hard for metalheads to digest of even want to hear. Stoner rockers already listen to groups like OM so it may be easier for them to latch onto. "Tena Timetraveller" is a standout track for me, as well as "We All Bleed Red". The latter is a far more somber and moody track than the rest of the album up to this point. The synth work throughout is wonderful. There is a strong DEAD CAN DANCE vibe in the album.

So as you can realize this is not a metal album, but this is damn fine atmospheric rock. This album is also meant to raise awareness and profits for Alzheimer’s Disease International. "River Mnemosyne" tells the story of a couple coming to terms with the fact the man may have the disease in the end because his father did. They are donating to the aforementioned groups for that song. Head over to Bandcamp and show some support for a great band and worthy cause.

Songwriting: 9
Musicianship: 8
Memorability: 9
Production: 8