Atlantis: unique prog musical gimmick out now

Andras Atlason’s 2022 record “Atlantis” is a 12-track release inviting music, lithography and literature into an inter-civilizational dialogue between the Nordic and the Portuguese-speaking worlds. Half of the songs are based upon Nordic-language poems and half are based upon Portuguese-language poems, reflecting Atlason’s own split identity between his Faroese father and his Brazilian mother – both classical violinists.

On the threshold between art rock and folk music with a touch of jazz and progressive metal, the record moves in seconds from blast beats with oboes and clarinets to soft jazz piano, featuring also Greek bouzoukis, many violins, Hammond organs and synths – all accompanied by Atlason’s dramatic baritone voice.

Precisely this difficulty to define the record’s genre in text is the perfect invitation to the universe of its unique musical gimmick combined with the imagery of Faroese lithograph Marius Olsen, who signs the strikingly heavy front cover for the album and 12 other beautiful illustrations.