STORIES

Barely 3 stars in my opinion. This is a very proggy release with lots of tempo shifts and mood changes but I just can't get into it at all. Even Mattias Olson formerly from ANGLAGARD guesting on this one can't rescue it from being very average. I hear their latest album is much better though.

"Stories" is a good opening track with organ, guitar and drums leading the way. Vocals are ok. "Patterns" opens with some great organ as an uptempo melody quickly follows. A change after 1 1/2 minutes to a jazz flavour. A full sound again 3 minutes in. Another change as vocals and piano take over.The tempo picks up before 5 minutes with some nice guitar to follow. "Isolation" has this capella-like intro and some good harmonies later. "The Battle Of Brighteye Brison" is darker sounding with vocals before a minute. Organ 2 minutes in and then it brightens. Spoken words 4 minutes in, and they rock out pretty good late in the song.

"Elanah" is a short intro track for "Late" that features piano melodies throughout. Vocals join them along with drums and bass once we get into "Late" which is a song about relationships. I don't like the song at all. "Life Inside" opens with piano and then reserved vocals. It does get fuller with some mellotron. Not a fan of this one either. "All Love" is my favourite. It has a very epic intro including some sax. Vocals 1 1/2 minutes in with acoustic guitar as it calms down. Drums and mellotron follow. A full sound 3 minutes in as the contrast continues. I like the guitar 5 minutes in. I don't like the xylophone solo 5 1/2 minutes in though. A country flavour follows. Why do I like this one ? "We Wanna Return" is uptempo with lots of organ. I like this one. It has a catchy chorus. "Stories Reprised" is a short but uplifting track.

Tough to even give this one 3 stars.