After I WALK THE LINE, I hadn't heard anything from Ville Rönkkö, the singer of the band, for a long time. His distinctive voice had captivated me with his band I WALK THE LINE. His voice and the dark, melodic music were something I couldn't resist. Once the band disbanded, I was unaware of what Ville Rönkkö was doing. By chance, I discovered that he had formed the band BEGINNINGS with four collaborators. A band, this time not from Finland, where Ville is from, but from Berlin. Of course, I missed the first concerts, but there are surely more to come.
Until then, I can listen to "Recover."
So what does this band from Berlin offer?
BEGINNINGS have a similar sound to what I WALK THE LINE had back in the day, especially with their arguably best album "Black Wave Rising" (review available on ramtatta.de at the link: https://www.ramtatta.de/s/reviews/f/details/id/3322/). However, the sound of the Berlin band is no longer as electronic as I WALK THE LINE, which is due to the absence of keyboards in their music.
Instead, there are technically well-played, guitar-heavy pieces sung by Ville and also by Raoul Festante. Two singers, two guitars, there's a lot that can be done with that. The band does just that.
The sound is dark, melodic, partly rocky, sometimes punky, but always catchy. One could say it's darker alternative with a punk attitude.
Overall, BEGINNINGS do not quite reach the level of I WALK THE LINE for me. The band reminds me of them. However, I believe that if the band stays together and their sound can further develop, it could become something quite unique that might actually be even more enjoyable. The fact that the sound and the band are already doing very well is shown by support shows, for example, for Turbostaat.
