THE SONGS & TALES OF AIROEA BOOK 2: OCEAN TRAVELLER (METAMORPHOSIS)

Supergroup THE CHRONICLES OF FATHER ROBIN is made up of members from Wobbler, That Samuel Jackson Five, Tusmørke and Jordsjø and features classic prog styles from the classic 70s as well as the Scandinavian revivalists of the 1990s. Salvaging material from a band called Fangorn that never took off during its time, this band has resurrected the long lost material and brought them to light in the modern world. The second chapter in THE SONGS & TALES OF AIOEA trilogy, BOOK 2 follows in the footsteps of its predecessor of a lengthy tale that is set over the course of three album releases.

While "Book 1" focused on the landscapes of the fantasy land AIROEA, BOOK 2 on the other hand focuses on the underwater city of Oriaseleah and the Sea of Ayouhr. Thematically continuing the storyline of a classic prog styled fairytale, musically BOOK 2 takes on a more pastoral dreamy disposition. While still implementing the diverse 70s throwback sounds of the flute, mellotron, glockenspiel and keyboard workouts in the style of classic Yes and modern Wobbler and fortified with the symphonic and folky aspects of classic Genesis, THE CHRONICLES OF FATHER ROBIN slows thing down a bit with a much mellower second release that while not bereft of proggy workouts and more upbeat moments, certainly does seem like a dreamier ethereal underwater experience than the first album.

Comprising six tracks, BOOK 2 runs at about 39 minutes and feels like a traditional classic prog album of the 1970s in many ways, even more so than the predecessor which featured more heavier passages reminding of 90s Anglagard, Anekdoten and Landberk. Through the band's entirely what is most widely implemented is a dreamy folk style with lush acoustic guitars and references not only to classic Yes but Wobbler due to the fact lead singer Andreas Wettergreen Strømman Prestmo fronts that band. Overall the music just isn't as varied and the songwriting suffers a bit on this one as well. It seems that on BOOK 2 the ideas are stretched a bit more thin and therefore start to fall apart midway through the album's run. The musicians are still on the top of their game and perform with exquisite precision but overall this one seems like a step down from its predecessor.

Another thing that leaves me perplexed is that the music is supposed to represent the world of water yet doesn't really feel like water. The folky aspects offer a more seductive effect but the more rockin' passages feel out of place almost as if they were forced. Add to that the album just doesn't feel as original this time around as the whiff of Yes, Wobbler and Genesis has become a fully pungent stench. Not that it's a horrible thing but the creativity level has certainly diminished and it may have served the project more if the ideas were more even dispersed. It almost sounds like the ideas of Fangorn were designed for a single album and THE CHRONICLES OF FATHER ROBIN is trying to dilute the original intent by stretching it into many similar tracks on this BOOK 2 at least often outwear their welcome.

The ease and grace of the debut portended that a second chapter would follow suit and BOOK 2 definitely has more than an engaging moment or two but instead of just sitting back and thinking how fun the album was like the debut, on this one i kept finding myself questioning various compositional moves and why they decided to sound too MUCH like Yes or Wobbler here and there. Certainly a decent album that will appeal to many who are more into the retro scene than i am but to my ears at least a noticeable decline in quality control principally in the songwriting and the ability to keep the stylistic shifts humming along in undetectable way. Decent but i prefer the first album much better and agree with everyone who says this one is too pastoral for its own good.