THE CONJURATION BY THE FIRE

This album and band is totally new to PA so a short intro is required..... This band is associated with the Finnish doom/stoner band REVEREND BIZARRE. Which explains a lot..

This album is (by the record label ?) described as 'dark progressive rock in the vein of Van der Graaf Generator, Black Widow, King Crimson, Gabriel-era Genesis, Pink Floyd'. I am not familiar with Black Widow, but the rest is not far away from the truth. Add some latter days ULVER and old TROUBLE into the mix and it describe this album reasonable good. It is most certainly dark. Dark as the darkest forests in Finland. This album may not be the right medicine for the suicidals out there. Doom Prog it is. I am not entirely aware of the prog stuff here. Only the Opening By Watchtower is reasonable prog rock. The rest of the songs are most definate stucked in a gloomy fog. Not as doomy as the likes of the doom metal masters, but still gloomy/doom metal. Still, the references to GENESIS, VDGG and PINK FLOYD is there, although this album will not make a GENESIS fan happy. Hence the sparse use of stars in the bottom of the review.........

The vocals are dark and brooding. So is the instruments. They are basically guitars, bass and drums with some additional flutes. The music is pretty anonyme and featureless. The only good track is the nine minutes long Opening by Watchtower. The use of flute here is good. It is also firmly in the VDGG and PINK FLOYD land. The rest of the material is more doomy than proggy. I find this album pretty underwhelming. But I will not write of this band. It is a good effort, but it mostly falls on it's face somewhere between doom and prog. But welcome to PA !

2 stars

"The Conjuration By The Fire" is the debut full-length studio album by Finnish progressive rock act The Orne. The album was released in 2006 by Black Widow Records. The Orne is a side-project for the members of Finnish doom metal act Reverend Bizarre plus three other musicians not affiliated with said act.

The music on "The Conjuration By The Fire" is organic sounding melancholic progressive rock. Deeply rooted in early seventies prog. I guess this is as retro as they come. Organ is one of the dominant instruments in the band´s sound (but not in a lead playing way, more atmospheric in nature), but flute, saxophone and of course bass, guitar and drums also colours the soundscape. The vocals by Hegemon Albert Witchfinder are melancholic and a bit pompous if you ask me, but I guess that´s an aquired taste. We´re led through 46:26 minutes distributed over 7 tracks. The quality is good but seldom reaches exellence IMO. The atmosphere is pleasant, melancholic and has a very authentic organic edge that´s greatly enjoyable.

So all in all I´d call "The Conjuration By The Fire" a recommendable release if you enjoy your progressive rock calm, melancholic and organic. The songs aren´t terribly complex and the pace is mostly slow, but the album never loses breath and I´m entertained all the way through. I´d say a 3 - 3.5 star rating is warranted.

Finnish act Orne was formed in late-90's in Turku, featuring three members of the Doom Metal group Reverend Bizarre, singer Albert Witchfinder, guitarist Peter Vicar and drummer/leyboardist Jay Lovely.Reputedly the band's original name was Mesmer, changing to Orne around 2002.An expanded 7-piece line-up recorded the group's debut ''The Conjuration by the Fire'', featuring also bassist Antti Fredriksson, Pirkka Lieno on organ, Jussi Lisko on sax/flutes and Pekka Pitkala on lead guitars.The album saw both CD and vinyl issues by the Black Widow label in 2006.

The doom elements of REVEREND BIZARRE are not absent in this album, although the sound has nothing to do with Metal.Orne play a haunting Heavy/Psych/Prog with strong Folk influences in a very Gothic-like enviroment and hints of KING CRIMSON, BLACK WIDOW and VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR are evident in their music, which switches between long psychedelic guitar movements, lush organ sounds and crying sax passages.Actually they do remind me a lot of Italians ASGARD without the Marillion-esque influences and COURT in their most electric parts.Orne proove to be masters of creating melancholic, folsky and sinister soundscapes with downtempo music.Vocals are also delivered in a dark-offered style and the arrangements are mostly based on alternating Psychedelic and Heavy Prog sounds, always presented with a rich vibe, as proposed by the discreet Hammond organ and the ethereal use of saxes and flutes.Despite the overall doomy style, the album contains a heavy amount of energy and dynamics with a powerful voice always supported by grandiose musical pirhouettes.

Very interesting yet rather unoriginal debut by these Finnish veterans.Somber and dark Progressive Rock with a shot to please fans of Heavy, Folk and Psychedelic Rock stylings.Recommended.