Roots reggae band Laulurastas hailing from Jyväskylä is one of the most acknowledged acts in the Finreggae scene of the Millennium era. During those years they released a few 7’’ singles and were preparing to drop an album, which was never finished until the band disbanded in 2002. However, they were still able to achieve some kind of a cult following with their psychedelic approach among the local Finreggae audience.
The lead vocalist Profeetta disappeared into the forests of Central Finland to meditate until he founded a new group basically with the same musicians but renamed as Profeetta & Uusi Maailmanuskonto. Between 2007 and 2012 they released three albums burst with analog synthesizers, electronic beats and dub echoes. Another widely acknowledged act, which was founded out of the ruins of Laulurastas, was the Finreggae band Puppa J & Tasottavat. Their sound engineer Toni Heinonen, who tragically died in 2021, moved on to work with other acts such as Kuningasidea and Muuan Mies. He also produced music for Liljan Loisto, a famous music group fusing together Finnish folk music and reggae.
Laulurastas got back together with the original lineup in 2013 and decided to finalize their unfinished album, which they had started recording in the late 90’s. However, at some point all the tapes mystically disappeared and they had to start all over again in December 2017.
Eventually the self-titled debut album of Laulurastas was finally finished and released in 2019. It is sort of a compilation of their old songs, which have been remade. Their profound, epic and dark Northern reggae is stylistically a return to the roots of Finreggae and the era when the genre evolved into particularly strong and unique local phenomenon. You can often hear strong religious references in their songs in a very similar way as in the original roots reggae of Jamaica.
Thus, Laulurastas has been recording their sophomore effort consisting of completely new material. The band is also well known as an experienced live performer with their impressive lineup of 11 members on stage.
Text: Joonas Kervinen / Funky Finland
