FROM SILENCE TO SOMEWHERE

Wow, just wow. This album is something special, and I truly believe in the years to come this will go down as a classic landmark album in the progressive rock canon. I fully believe this album can easily stand tall among many archetype prog classics of the past, and even shadow many as well. The album is incredibly rich and flawlessly produced for what I look for, every instrument can be picked out and at any given moment, they're giving you something interesting to cling on to.

"From the mould, the mother womb That dark and moist, dark and moist shield of olde To rise up again from the tomb And like the fragile sprout in twilight's gloom"

The album opens with the epic 20 minute title track: From Silence to Somewhere. The song seamlessly flows from movement to movement effortlessly. There's an abundance of great melodies, particularly in the vocals and the harmonies. It's songs like this that I refuse to believe humans crafted. At best, it just rose out of the earth one day or crashed from a meteorite.

To me, the centerpiece of this song is the middle "jam" section starting around the 9:45 mark. It is simply one of the most dark and intense movements of any prog song I've ever heard. Every member is given their time to lay down some filth. Nasty wah-wah guitar leads and stank-face inducing distorted organs take you on a showcase of pure Norweigan proficiency. There's not dull moment to be found here, every note is just as memorable as the last. (10/10)

Then we have the transitional piano-led instrumental Rendered in Shades of Green. I see it as a nice cool down from the explosive title track.

"Far away In the northernmost region In a dark land of ice and snow The old man dwelled in his tower"

Fermented Hours eclipses, or at the very least matches the intensity of the title track. A heavy, dark organ builds us up to a huge explosion of sound. Again, the vocal melodies are on point throughout the song, but I also think the singer uses timbre to a great degree here. A few minutes in, the song abruptly comes to a quick transition where a percussive organ takes the lead. In a way I think the abruptness of the transition is what makes it hit so well. It's like a different scene of the same movie. There's so many head banging moments throughout. Exemplifying that is the big buildup and jam that closes the song. 10/10

"Bewildered here, Down at the crossroads. Confronted with the choices, For my epitaph."

Foxlight closes the album with incredible style and form, though of the three main tracks it is my "least favorite," take it with a grain of salt, because some albums don't have a worst song. This one opens with a layered and mystical sounding acoustic guitar passage accompanied by flutes and soft floaty vocals. If you close your eyes, you can almost see yourself drifting down a snowy river. This builds up until a harpsichord leads us into another crushing and heavy jam that grows and grows. If Fermented Hours is the guitar song, this is the keyboard song.

....Even if the pieces change....

The final 3 minutes of Foxlight is the peak of the album, it is the celebratory bliss that I love so much in this genre of music. (9.5/10)

At the end of the day, this is one of my all time favorite albums. It's played and produced so masterfully, I believe even the most modern prog or retro prog skeptic would have a hard time denying the songwriting chops these guys got.

10/10