Like most bands hailing from Finland, Kroko find themselves well at home within the realms of absurd musical integrities. Their sound falls somewhere within the boundaries of, noise, improv Jazz, ambience and a skronky style Avant-garde. Just imagine the crazed intensity of Ruins crossed with improvised realms of Jazzy avant-ambience, only to be dowsed by the dark and brooding experimental side of Univers Zero. Most of the tracks included on this album have been taken from live performances then mixed with all sorts of mixing effects, constituting to the wide array of unexplainable noise. This was a smart move by such a band, giving a more insightful outlook on what the bands is about, demonstrating the not only the harsh face but also giving infinite freedom to the improv nature of the band.
The main compound of Kroko is loosely based around the defining skeletal structure of the manic drum section; fronting the impressive performance of Petri Hissa. These scattered but strangely coherent rhythms hold the album together beautifully enabling the careless flow from one passage to the next. At the forefront of the Duo’s sound we are constantly startled by Pentti Dassum’s violent out bursts, then gliding soothingly into Jazzy textures. Shear intensity floods through our veins through short more Ruins orientated passages, while we are soothed by the beautifully almost deconstructed longer compositions infested with squeaking, scraping, whaling feedback creating beautiful Ambient-jazz soundscapes.
Petri Hissa RIP 2020