Major Parkinson: Blackbox

Norwegian band Major Parkinson is a new discovery for me. The band formed in 2003 and have four albums to their credit: Major Parkinson (2008), Songs from a Solitary Home (2010), Twilight Cinema (2014) and their latest album Blackbox (2017).

The seven member band along with several guest musicians and the Volve Vokal female choir have created a distinct and unique progressive art/rock album that is both eclectic and melodic. Musical shifts into pop and darker tinged rock keep the listener intrigued and completely engaged with the band’s immense sonic pallet of sounds and textures.

Your thought provoking journey begins with “Lover, Lower Me Down!� beginning with a sparse drum beat and washes of synths creating multiple layers of pure bliss. Majestic and cinematic are two words that come to mind. The album has a line of darkness running through its core as heard in the complex “Night Hitcher� with its spoken word vocals and eerie synths and keys and the heavy mood of “Isabel: A Report To An Academy� with an intense ending crescendo of guitar, drums and keyboards. The band gets poppy on the super catchy �Madeleine Crumbles� where the keyboards and choir shine brilliantly. The mixture of angelic female vocals and Kollbotn’s spoken words is an intoxicating combination. In fact, the vocals are outstanding throughout the album.

As I was a bit late to the party with this release it didn’t make my ‘best of’ list for 2017. Rest assured it is up there amongst the best releases of last year. Another highly recommended release from Karisma Records.

Band members:
Elvind Gammersvuik (bass, backing vocals)
Sondre Sagstad Veland (drums, percussion, backing vocals)
Jon Ivar Kollbotn (vocals, piano on track 3)
Sondre Rafoss Skollevoll (guitars, backing vocals, miniKORG on track 4)
Øystein Beck-Eriksen (guitars)
Lars Christian Bjorknes (piano, organ, synth, programming, backing vocals)
Claudia Cox (violin, backing vocals)

Track Listing:
1. Lover, Lower Me Down!
2. Night Hitcher
3. Before The Helmets
4. Isabel: A Report To An Academy
5. Scenes From Edison’s Black Maria
6. Madeleine Crumbles
7. Baseball
8. Strawberry Suicide
9. Blackbox

Added: May 16th 2018
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band's Official Site
Hits: 1420
Language: english

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