Another day, another Norwegian band enters our radar, and this is the debut album from The Flying Norsemen, a group comprised of three former members of the notable act Arabs in Aspic. The line-up for the album is Anders Sprauten on guitar & vocals, John Waernes on lead guitar and vocals, Tommy Ingerbrigsten on guitar & theremin, Terje Nyhus on bass, and Olvind Gronn on drums, with guest that include Jostein Smeby on vocals, organ, and percussion, plus Erik Paulsen on Spanish guitar. With four tracks and clocking in at just about 40 minutes, this self-titled release takes the listener through all sorts of heavy prog and doom-laden twists and turns, full of big crushing riffs, spooky keyboards, and creepy atmosphere. The vocals are in Norwegian, which, if you are a fan of Norwegian prog-rock, that's becoming more and more common for these bands to sing in their native tongue, and honestly, I don't mind it one bit. "Norseide" starts things off in haunting fashion, a lumbering, doomy track littered with big riffs, chilling theremin, spacey keys, and a mix of sung and spoken word Norwegian vocals, all of which set an initial unsettling but potent pace to the album. "Lystens Begjaer II" is more upbeat straightforward, the riffs not unlike classic Black Sabbath but there are also those eerie synth and theremin noises which add to the creepy factor, and the 12-minute "PoseidiJohn" is another heavy, heavy number dripping with proggy atmosphere. Love the riffing on this album, and if you are a Black Sabbath fan, you'll find much to like here, but I love how they blend that with classic Norwegian, and even at times Italian classic prog influences. Closing it out is "Lystens Begjaer", which is weird how the first part closes and the second part appears earlier on the album, but either way, it's another atmospheric, spacey journey into heavy prog, with lilting guitar lines, meditative drums, fluttering synths, and eventual big, crushing doom riffs, sinister vocals, and more of those odd but effective synth and theremin effects.
Job well done by The Flying Norsemen, a heavy and quite proggy debut that's leaving me salivating for more. An Apollon Records release.Â
Track Listing
1.Norseide 10:44
2.Lystens begjær II 08:38
3.PoseidiJohn 12:03
4.Lystens begjær 09:07
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
