With an almost 50-year musical collaboration between Odd-Roar Bakken and Nils Larsen, the desire to push forward creatively after the disbanding of their former band Morild was as strong as ever. This creative drive led to the creation of Kornmo. The Norwegian progressive/symphonic rock outfit have now returned to deliver up their third full length album, Fimbulvinter.
Fimbulvinter begins with the title track which immediately sets the tone for the album. Gentle acoustic guitars begin with Van Der Graaf Generator like keyboards moving into the picture. When the bass and drums kick in the song feels very much like you are slowly trudging through the beautiful yet stark ice age landscape of the album cover. In fact that is one of the primary themes explored on this album. The ideas of nature and science and especially how the forces of nature influenced the ice age landscapes permeates the whole album. The guitars eventually lift up the song in harmony creating an emotionally uplifting experience. “Jutulhogget” continues where “Fimbulvinter” left off with the pace and feel pushed up a notch or two. Like every other song on Fimbulvinter this is another long epic journey. The 1970’s progressive rock influence is fully on display and worn as a badge of honor. The comparisons to Camel or Van Der Graaf Generator among others are most definitely justified. The album could easily fit into that era with both the natural analog instrument sounds and keyboards as well as the clean old school Production sound. Everything screams 70’s prog and it works beautifully. Kornmo never ventures into any kind of instrumental wankery. Everything on the album is informed by and enriched with lush melody and that is also a primary focus for the band here. “Dovre Faller” follows as expected, the beautiful organ sound giving everything that familiar warmth while the guitar harmonies float above. This track clocks in at over a mighty 19 plus minutes, however not to be out done “Kjempene Vakner” follows with an even more epic 26 plus minutes. Again the ingredients are largely unaltered with the exception of accordion and flute sounds added at times. Again moving through the Ice age scenery in blissful contentment as mammoths pass you in the snow with the occasional sabertooth tiger making you run for your life before returning to the warm serenity. The music is both engaging and relaxing while also being very evocative. Finally the album closes out with “Mega Annum” a “shorter” track of only 10 plus minutes. It begins with a solemn beauty with dense organs and keyboards leading the way. Another beautiful snow filled saga.
Fimbulvinter is an album full of feeling. Progressive rock can at times be a bit over the top or cheesy but for my money I’d say that Fimbulvinter never falls into those traps. The capturing of the classic analog sounds is very impressive and only highlights the equally impressive compositional talents of the band. Fimbulvinter is recommended to fans of classic Prog rock who enjoy the more melodic and emotionally driven end of that spectrum.
Kornmo Line-up:
Nils Larsen
Odd-Roar Bakken
Anton Larsen
Tracklisting: 1. Fimbulvinter
2. Jutulhogget
3. Dovre Faller
4. Kjempene Vakner
5. Mega Annum
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With an almost 50-year musical collaboration between Odd-Roar Bakken and Nils Larsen, the desire to push forward creatively after the disbanding of their former band Morild was as strong as ever. This creative drive led to the creation of Kornmo. The Norwegian progressive/symphonic rock outfit have now returned to deliver up their third full length album, Fimbulvinter.
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