SACRAE SYMPHONIA NO. 1

What feels like a continuation of both the sound of 2020's incredible Am Ende der Welt as well as the evolution of the Weserbergland sound and vision, we have here a headlong hypersonic immersion into a mind-blowing blending of the worlds of the acoustic and electronic--one in which acoustic instruments are merged seemlessly into one soundscape. Though prog veteran Mattias Olsson seems to have left the project that he help start back in 2015, replacement drummer Vetle Larsen is everybit as impressive (though I'm never certain which drum/percussion parts are "live" with "real" instruments and which are electronically programmed and computer generated), and one of the other founding four from Sehr Kosmisch, Ganz Progisch, White Willow/The Opium Cartel's Jacob Holm- Lupo has moved back behind the scenes into the post-production role of mastering. Joining the project here is American producer/musician from the Post Rock scene, John McEntire (Tortoise, Stereolab, Gastr Del Sol, The Sea and Cake, Dave Grubbs, Red Krayola) on the mixing board. Though founding member, guitarist Gaute Storsve, is still very much a part of the scene, the project has really evolved into the hands of multi-talented visionary Ketil Vestrum Einarsen (White Willow, Motorpsycho, Tirill, Geir Lysne, Jaga Jazzist, Wobbler, Finn Coren, Frida Ånnevik, Kaukasus, Anima Morte, Galasphere 347), who is credited with composing, programming, fxing, synthesizing, and, I'm sure, more. What a vision!

1. "Sacrae Symphonia No. 1" (39:49) starts off like a rocket out of a rocket launcher and though the Magma-like bass and wild drums only enter in the seventh minute, it finally peaks in its trajectory in the second stage, begins to lose steam and layers of support tracks from the 14th minute from which it's rather peaceful (outer-atmosphere) mid- flight feels almost peaceful, maybe even weightless. At the halfway mark searing, screaming cacophony (of frictional re-entry?) takes over before the full-on barrage of drums and bass et al. begin hurtling through the air again--all the while the discordant notes of orchestral instruments hold in sustained ribbons like trail kites until the 26th minute when forward motion is minuscule while a trail of echoes seems to be left to fall into the distance. At 27:37 the drums reenter, not quite as frenetically, more robotically. Perhaps this is the missile's guided cruise control as it scours the earth's surface in search of its target/final destination. By the 30-minute mark, the musical tapestry has thickened again, though both the electric and orchestral contributions all feel more copacetic and even cohesive: there is less discord and cacophony and more "sacred." (Man is this drummer having to work hard!) Were I to try to convert my metaphoric imagery to fit the song's title, I might use language and terms from a vocabulary based in celestial astronomy or quantum physics, or even Biblical references: The Fall of Lucifer; a struggle against the forces of a black hole/singularity; the journey of a subatomic particle as it passes through the subspace ether of Jesus on the Cross. I do appreciate and like the subtle, gradual transition from what seems and feels like entropic dissonance to coordinated, harmonic organization.

Total Time 39:49

How to rate--how to assign numerical value to such a work?! I don't think I'm going to. I will, however, issue my declaration of praise for this work of art in the form of five stars: I consider Sacrae Symphonia No. 1 as a masterpiece of human creativity.

This is a progression of Am Ende der Welt. But it requires even more trust from the listener that the journey will be great. The previous record had more things to grasp, especially at the beginning. This one has them few and far in- between. Especially after the first few minutes.

The one track we have starts with a screaking noise as if a train makes a sudden stop. These train noises continue to be in the background of the first few minutes of ambience, dominated by synth and guitar soundscapes. At 4.03, a sax is added. The ambience remains.

Then, at 6.40, the furious drumming and bass playing starts. A frantic sax takes centre stage. Here, we are entirely into the sound experience. As we are lifting off. At 9.11, drumming and bass stop and the synth and sax bring back the ambience. Asif we are floating in space. Then, at 10.10, rhythmic drumming and bass playing helps us to go forward, still floating boldly.

At 14.40, the drum and bass stop. We are left floating, symbolized by a synth sound escapes and sax long haul. At 16.00 the different instruments die away gently. Until at 17.05, a bass re-emerges, ever so gently. Around minute 20, the bass and synth become more and more compelling. Something is coming.

Then, at 21.28. The frantic drum and bass are back. The synth soundscapes are similar, but the rhythmic section is going wild. This will also fade away, bringing us back afloat. But not long. Because at 27.40, a rhythmic drum, later accompanied by the bass pushes us forward again. A bit like we saw around 10 minutes. But barely two minutes later, we have the frantic drums and base again. We are at the home stretch though. It's absolutely mesmerizing how Vetle Larsen plays those drums and what Ingebrikt H'ker Flaten does on the base. Bringing the album to a climax.

Then, four minutes to go still, we arrive. The album leaves us with a synth soundscape that slowly fades. Giving us the time to land.

For me, the previous album was more tangible. And though I liked this third instalment of Weserbergland immediately, it took me multiple (six) listens to fully appreciate the work.

Some will call this art for the sake of art. Or closed music. I don't agree. It takes some investment for most, but the reward is great. This is awesome. 5 stars.

Apollon Records sent me a promo copy of this record earlier this year thinking I could handle this I guess. They were wrong. I knew from that first spin that this 40 minute piece of pretty much unstructured soundscape music was going to take a lot of listening in order for me to "get it". I didn't like it after the first listen and many, many listens later I still don't get it but I'm beyond spending any more time with it. A challenge because it is noisy with a lot of computer generated sounds that I for the most part don't enjoy. It's partly composed, partly improvized with nine musicians involved.

There's not two sax players as it shows on the site here, the other plays piano. Mr. Einersen is the man here composing the music and adding live FX, computer programming and synths. This is his vision. The best thing to come out of this for me was finding out that Einersen played on FRUITCAKE's final studio album adding flute and being part of the band. What?! That was back in 2004. We are a looong way from that kind of music my friends. This record was mixed by TORTOISE's John McEntire and mastered by Jacob Holm-Lupo who was part of WESERBERGLAND's debut album which I like so much more than this one. Even the guests on that one were so impressive.

The band described the debut as Prog meets Krautrock while the second record they described as contemporary classical meets experimental electronics meets some form of Krautrock. This one they refer to as contemporary classical meets Krautrock and micro computers with noise rock assaults. I'm not into noise. That is heard right from the start and it ends in a similar way with those scraping industrial sounds to the point I want to cover my ears but then some warmth. It stays experimental, almost haunting before some free jazz sounding horns wail away.

Manic drumming comes and goes throughout this record and again just not my thing at all but kudos for all the work man. After 17 minutes I'm hearing computer generated sounds I believe unlike anything I've heard. Is that a bass line? An abrupt change 21 1/2 minutes in to crazy drumming and a sweeping atmosphere. Some depth 28 minutes in is a nice change. More free jazz sounding stuff follows.

Apologies to my buddy Drew who considers this a contender for album of the year and he's not the only one. This one went right over my head but there's no way it's a 4 star record in my world. Finally I consider myself a spiritual person but not religious but honestly I don't hear even a whisper of either on this record.