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KARI RUESLATTEN

Prog Folk • Norway


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Kari Rueslatten picture
Kari Rueslatten biography
Formerly lead singer and keyboardist for the doom metal band 3RD & THE MORTAL, Kari Rueslåtten also appeared briefly as part of the ill-fated Viking metal group STORM and has been featured on a number of Norwegian band recordings including RAWTHANG, ISRAELVIS and ART OF FIGHTERS.

Rueslåtten went on hiatus from her solo career following her 2004 release 'Other People?s Stories', but in 2013 announced work on a new studio album.

>> Bio by Bob Moore (aka ClemofNazareth) <<

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KARI RUESLATTEN discography


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KARI RUESLATTEN top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

2.50 | 2 ratings
Spindelsinn
1997
0.00 | 0 ratings
Mesmerized
1998
3.88 | 6 ratings
Pilot (as Kari)
2002
3.00 | 1 ratings
Other People's Stories
2004
3.00 | 1 ratings
Time To Tell
2014
0.00 | 0 ratings
To the North
2015
0.00 | 0 ratings
Silence is the Only Sound
2017
0.00 | 0 ratings
Sørgekåpe
2020

KARI RUESLATTEN Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

KARI RUESLATTEN Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

KARI RUESLATTEN Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

0.00 | 0 ratings
The Collection
2014

KARI RUESLATTEN Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

0.00 | 0 ratings
Demo Recordings 1995
1995
0.00 | 0 ratings
I Månens Favn
1997
0.00 | 0 ratings
Spindelsinn
1997
0.00 | 0 ratings
Make Me a Stone
1998
0.00 | 0 ratings
A Different Angle
1998
0.00 | 0 ratings
Calling You/Exile
2003

KARI RUESLATTEN Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Time To Tell by RUESLATTEN, KARI album cover Studio Album, 2014
3.00 | 1 ratings

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Time To Tell
Kari Rueslatten Prog Folk

Review by kenethlevine
Special Collaborator Prog-Folk Team

— First review of this album —
3 stars "Abandon hope all ye who enter here", here being the sultry siren song of female-led Nordic doom metal, or any of its barely thawed tentacles. In the strange case of KARI RUESLATTEN, formerly of pioneering Norwegians THE 3RD AND THE MORTAL, we are here decades clear of that group's shrapnel. Kari's music is to her prior group as BELINDA CARLISLE's is to the GOGOs, sort of. Her vocal oriented alternative pop efforts have been generously classed in the category of folk-inclined, but I don't know how, and I was on the team when she was admitted. She has been compared to TORI AMOS and KATE BUSH and I will add in NANCI GRIFFITH and LOREENA MCKENNITT at times. To close the loop in a fascinating manner, her songs could almost have come from attempts to strip down some of the power ballads by groups like NIGHTWISH and its succession of powerful women who owe much to her pioneering work of the past.

In deciding which album to review, I settled upon, surprise surprise, the one that appeared after a 10 year break. But first I had to add the flurry of releases that followed it and were not yet in the database! Poor Kari, nah she is fine. At first blush, Kari's songs seem easy to dismiss as stubborn attempts to establish her own identity and keep her past life where it resides, but it's catchy by prog yardsticks, as it should be, though I imagine not enough for mainstream audiences. Considering that the tempo doesn't change much from track to track, and she employs no tactics to keep us listening, this is pretty engrossing on a song by song basis. My highlights are just mine and don't necessarily reflect an assessment of their quality: "Hold On" (wonderfully idiosyncratic chorus), "Rainy Days Ahead" (I could hear Tarja belting this out), "Why so Lonely" (a remake with Tuomas Holopainen of NIGHTWISH), "Shoreline", and the comforting "Wintersong".

I recommend Kari for those who need a break from multilayered or metallic wizardry in favor of its more congenial brethren, and "Time To Tell" seems like a fine midpoint for that herstory.

 Other People's Stories by RUESLATTEN, KARI album cover Studio Album, 2004
3.00 | 1 ratings

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Other People's Stories
Kari Rueslatten Prog Folk

Review by Matti
Prog Reviewer

— First review of this album —
3 stars Kari Rueslåtten (b. 1973) was formerly, from 1992 to 1994, the vocalist and songwriter of the Norwegian doom metal/experimental band The 3rd and the Mortal, which was one of the earliest metal bands that used a lead female singer, thus inspiring better known bands such as The Gathering and Nightwish. I'm reviewing her fourth solo album upon my very first acquaintance. This is something I do here from time to time, but only for [nearly] unreviewed PA artists.

Even if the artist had been familiar to me in advance, I wouldn't have dared to suggest her into the ProgArchives database myself, and, at least on the light of this particular album, definitely wouldn't have expected her to land on Prog Folk subgenre. Of course her other albums may contain more distinctive folk flavour, but I don't hear much of folk -- or prog, although as pop/rock this is admittedly quite eclectic and sonically experimental at times. Labels aside, I'm evaluating this music for what it is and how I personally like it.

Kari's high, clear voice reminds me a bit of TORI AMOS or LOREENA McKENNITT. There's a slightly similar emotional depth in her expression, but without similar manners, and overall in a bit higher (soprano) range. The title track starts the album in a serene, accessible way. Pretty nice, harmonic song actually. 'Sorrow to My Door' reminds me, for the singing and the melodies, of Loreena McKennitt but without any ethnic/ World Music elements. The arrangement is modern, half organic and half programmed. 'Cry' and 'Dogstar' are fairly good art-pop/rock songs with inspired soundscapes that make me think of DAVID SYLVIAN or NO-MAN.

'When Lilies Bloom on Winter Days' is among the finest songs on the album. I could imagine it as a Tori Amos song. 'Push' and 'Ride' are a bit too restless and industrial-sounding for my taste, but perhaps many prog-minded listeners would thank them for bringing some harder edges to the whole. 'Fishing' starts in an a cappella approach, and the arriving synths remain suitably gloomy in the background. A fine, moody track showcasing Kari's vocal skills. The two final songs are OK without bringing anything new to the table.

3½ stars actually. Fairly enjoyable if you like arty female singer-songwriters such as Tori Amos.

 Pilot (as Kari) by RUESLATTEN, KARI album cover Studio Album, 2002
3.88 | 6 ratings

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Pilot (as Kari)
Kari Rueslatten Prog Folk

Review by admireArt
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Prog Folk not exactly. Eclectic without "fireworks" will suit it better.

All I know about KARI RUESLATTEN's past or present is what her mini-bio in PA depicts. And that coincidentally, with what I have reviewed lately, she is also from Norway. It is quiet surprising that this artist has recieved such a lukewarm reception here in PA! ......I guess that's one of the drawbacks of not being a "north-american" musician. Less exposure!

Anyway, as with all vocalist, if you like their timbre you are half-way in. With "PILOT" the musical language itself, is diverse from start to finish. And there is a lot of experimentation from a wide scope of angles along the way. These transitions vary in tone and mood but not to opposite directions.

No "dark" Heavy Metal stuff, but some "obscure" AV like passages. These songs contrast to its more "folksy" moments, like "Pilot" the song and "River". The other 10 songs fluctuate between "atmospherics", ethereal and minimalistic, low key "grandeur".

And all of them by themselves range in style from "prog/electronics" to "cappellas", to straight down, slow 60s Rock (without the fireworks), to Folk, to brushes of Rock/Pop and to "one on one" synths and voice structures. And best of all, a completely owned musical idiom!

Her lyrics are intillegent and unpretentious as they are intriguing. The whole effort is a pleasurable journey that makes no concessions to not any other purpose but its music. And "PILOT" as such is that.

I will keep this one, I hope you do the same. ****4 PA stars!

Thanks to ClemofNazareth for the artist addition.

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