THE ROLLING COURT MASSACRE

This Norwegian band with the unusual name was formed in 1995 in Trondheim as a quartet with Geir Larz on guitar/drums/vocals, Erik Andas on bass/vocals, Ole Peder Teigen on keyboards/vocals and Oyvind Eriksen on lead vocals.They established their own Langt Lem Records and their first three releases were all pressed in vinyl format, thus they are quite rare.With each album the band introduced a new member to the public and by the end of the decade they featured also female singer Heidi Santos Larz and Mette Jensen on flute.All members used obscure nicknames like Pornographic Johnson, Eric The Awful etc. and in 2001 they came up with their fourth album ''The rolling court massacre'', the first time an album by the group was also released on CD, introducing another flutist, Boddus Lut.

The album is divided in two long, multi-parted suites, about 25 minutes each, delivering the strong vintage influences of the group, which sounds a lot like legendary acts such as YEZDA URFA, GENTLE GIANT, THE MUFFINS or MAELSTROM. Procosmian Fannyfiddlers play a quirky Progressive Rock with dominant Folk and symphonic influences, although their sound is generally offered as a Fusion of different styles.The music is complex with endless thematic changes and complicated textures, full of impressive interplays, delicate, rural instrumental lines and more grandiose, keyboard-based preludes.This whole charming package is colored by over the top, sarcastic and humourous male and female vocals with a very ZAPPA-esque approach, while another band close to their style is Americans RASCAL REPORTERS.The different movements are nicely connected with dense instrumental passages and sudden breaks, often flirting with a chaotic atmosphere, and the armour of the group includes heavy flute doses, plenty of Mellotron and organ waves as well as electric guitars and mandolins.The female-fronted parts have also a nice and ethereal Scandinavian flavor, quite useful for the flow of an otherwise very complex album.However, the music is at moments fantastic, equal to the Prog league's monster names, with frenetic shifts and technical efficiency, delivered in trully retro-drenched stylings.

Unknown but trully talented group, offering an emphatic and devastating Prog/Symph/Folk Rock with plenty of interesting moments.Requires a respectable number of listenings, but its value is guaranteed at the end.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.