MYTHOPOEIC MIND

[Originally published as a mini-review at The Progressive Aspect]

From the opening notes, Hatchling reveals itself to be a very different beast from Mythopoeic Mind's debut. Mythopoetry was a thoroughly enjoyable and melodic, jazzy and symphonic album that was relatively accessible and mainstream. While the tracks often betrayed the avant RIO and Canterbury influences of the band members, the songs were almost radio-friendly. I absolutely loved the album, and was quite excited to hear the next instalment. But while Mythopoetry was immediately enchanting, Hatchling took more than one listen for me to appreciate. There's nothing wrong with that, there are plenty of albums in my collection that I adore, that I was not so fond of on first hearing. Sometimes it takes a few listens to get an album.

For me, Hatchling is somewhat of a misnomer. To my ears, Mythopoetry was the hatchling, and Hatchling is the fledgling. The band has grown enough to begin experimenting and take flight, in a half awkward and half endearing way. Hatchling comes across as far more spontaneous and improvised, and while it never strays into real avant territory, the hints of RIO are far stronger than in the more symphonic Mythopoetry. The introduction to Fear Fiesta is pretty much avant chamber prog, before the beat kicks in and the fiesta becomes funky. And then come the idiosyncratic vocals of Veronika Hørven Jensen. Yes, this is definitely a different sound from Mythopoetry. If I didn't know, I might not even realise it is the same band. Yet all the named members of Hatchling, apart from Veronika, were in the band that created Mythopoetry.

Ok, maybe I am over-emphasising the difference, but I just want to portray how surprised I was when I first heard this, and how unsure I was about how much I liked it. So the key question is, what do I think now? The answer is that I now love this album, and more so than its predecessor. So, if you like a bit of angular and edgy music, this is for you. Trond Gjellum absolutely shines on the drums. (I'm a big Trond fan!) Ola Mile Bruland not only complements Trond beautifully with fretless and double bass, but plays the euphonium. When it appears, it's a fantastic sound, an instrument too rarely played, as far as I'm concerned, so it's great to hear it. And, of course, the sax of leader Steinar Børve's is always prominent. Throw in the trumpet of (keyboard player) Pål Selsjord Bjørseth, and then a pinch of bassoon on the the title track, from guest Lars-Jarand Bakkelund, and you have a magnificent recipe for musical greatness.

'Recorded during Covid lockdown ...' (bandcamp info), this is a quirky hatchling really. In order to get deeper multiple attempts are absolutely required. Not a surprise, or what? Some years ago MYTHOPOEIC MIND has been formed by some wellknown musicians from Norway. First and foremost to name the current Panzerpappas Steinar Børve (saxophone) and Trond Gjellum (drums). Also involved are Anders K. Krabberød (guitars) and Ola Mile Bruland (bass) who both also must be counted to the extended band family in some way or another. Thriving while ranging diverse genres, also using lots of electronics, their sophomore 2021 album comes as a fresh and modern eclectic prog album, tending towards sophisticated art rock on this occasion. Regarding some acceptance you definitely will also need a faible for folk music, and especially wind instruments. Summed up the song collection (six pieces) is entertaining in its entirety concerning musicianship, arrangement as well as diversity.

A proper role is assigned to the female vocals, contributed by Veronika Hørven Jensen. Sound-wise a big plus manifests, because actually this comes totally different to the music of bands they are otherwise involved with, like Panzerpappa, The Glutton, Surburban Savages aso. Hence I hear more reminiscences to Ciccada for example, or even Polytoxicomane Philharmonie. I'd like to highlight two tracks here. Winter Of '73 works with a wonderful psychedelic tinged opening including celestial voices, and then gives pace. A happy mood, great guitar solos, fantastic! Finally the super relaxed Supreme Vision is dominated by saxophone and spheric keyboards respectively synths, and releases the listener with much feelgood factor. Very well done. A superb album.

"Mythopoeic Mind" is a project by Steiner Borve from Norway. The style is Symphonic Prog. The project started in 2016 and Borve immediately started working on the album "Mythopoetry", which was finally released early in 2019. Borve is a saxophonist and plays both alto and soprano sax on this album along with keyboards and vocals. Other instruments are played by additional musicians that were brought together to perform on his album. The other instruments involved here are mostly standard including guitars, other keyboards, trumpet, bass, drums and other percussion. Bookended by relatively short tracks, just over 2 minutes, this album has 6 tracks total, the other 4 ranging from over 6 minutes to over 13 minutes.

"Prologue Song" is an introductory song featuring vocal effects and a trumpet and sax playing a simple melody surrounded by synths. "Prey" is where the progressiveness begins with an upbeat and complex rhythm and instrumental patterns. When the vocals start, they also reflect a complexity to the melody with interesting interval jumps. Instruments are led by keyboards and guitars backed by bass and drums. There is some nice guitar improvisation, but the overall track seems a bit sterile, especially the vocals that lack emotion.

"Mount Doom" starts out with less instruments, mostly just keys and a guitar playing in a robotic manner. The band kicks in later with some interesting sounds, almost sounding like everything is based in a strange mode, but it comes across as being forced, even though things are improvised around a theme. About 6 minutes in, things change up a bit, but the sound still seems forced and maybe a bit patchy. I can't help but have the feeling that someone in the mixing booth is saying, "Let's put a bit of this here and a bit of that over there". The track is all instrumental.

"Train of Mind" begins with an electric piano establishing thematic elements. When the band starts up, the vocals start. Again, the melody is made up of unique intervals, but you still get a robotic delivery, no emotion. There are some nice instrumentals, but again it seems forced, trying to sound improvised, but not coming across that way. There is a decent sax solo there, but it seems like it was cut short and the background is allowed to continue playing with nothing going on. Back to the robotic vocals.

"Sailor's Disgrace" is the longest track at 13 + minutes. A nice pastoral sound is established with a 6 / 8 meter. This track features another lead singer, who's voice is a bit weak at first, but at least his vocals are more emotional. Even when the other singer harmonizes with the lead, it is still better. A higher pitched vocal joins in and things actually get much more interesting. A sax solo begins and even that seems less forced than in the other tracks. After 4 minutes, things liven up quite a bit and things get better. The vocal is still a bit questionable as it seems to return to the lead singer from the weaker tracks, and continues to sing in those strange interval jumps, but the sound of this track is much better and relaxed, even in the upbeat sections. Even though I am still not a big fan of the vocals, but it is less of a problem here with the instrumental sections seeming less forced. This is a much better track, but it comes along too late.

"Epilogue Song" is the other short track that bookends the album. All that it does is try to tie everything together, but there really isn't anything to tie here.

As mentioned earlier, this album sounds a bit sterile, forced and lacking any soul or emotion. The right ideas are here, but they are just not presented very well. The music needs to loosen up a bit and a better vocalist would have made another positive difference. Dynamics are always helpful and the improvised sections need more freedom. The only saving grace here is "Sailor's Disgrace" but it is a good song surrounded by other not-so-great tracks.