RISET BAK SPEILET

Riset Bak Speilet is the second album by this Norwegian band. Keyboardist Deadly Nightshade had departed, in comes Marxo Solinas who is none other than Lars Fredrik Frøisle, who already appeared as a guest on their previous album, now a full-time member. In my opinion, this followup LP just doesn't reach the greatness of Underjordisk Tusmørke. "Black Swift" and "All is Lost" tend to be repetitive and I don't find them particularly engaging, this would have made a hellva better disc if those two songs were replaced by the bonus cuts. But the other three on the LP is much better. "Offerpresten" is a wonderful, a bit like how Jethro Tull might end up like had they been Nordic. There's also an amusing quote from Black Widow's "Come to the Sabbat". "Gamle Aker Kirke" is another great piece, more mellow, almost like a Nordic Moody Blues. Lars Fredrik Frøisle providing some nice Mellotron and Chamberlin. Then the lengthiest piece, which is the title track where they go full-on progressive rock, showing this band can still make great music even at this length. So this is a case of two brilliant numbers, two mediocre numbers, and another brilliant closer. As for the bonus cuts (available on the CD version, or you can download them when you buy the LP), they rival the LP itself. "Kairo" unsurprisingly has a Middle Eastern feel to it. "Mener Vi Alvor Nå?" is a very strongly medievel piece, in fact you might think this actually dates from the Middle Ages. I love this piece. Then out of nowhere Lars provides some strange synths. Then there's "En Verden Av i Går" is another great proggy piece that I wished was included on the LP proper than "Black Swift". If that was included on the LP, my rating would be higher. Worth owning for the brilliant material present, but also includes some mediocre stuff.