PASTORALIA

While this really pains me to write, I felt this would be a good chance to write a not so positive review. I say this because most the time, if I'm writing a review on this website, it's either 4 stars or 5 stars. That's because I don't typically like to go out of my way to trash or tear down an album, and I'm gonna try not to tear this album to shreds while still being completely honest. The truth is, Jordsjo has really disappointed me on this new release. I've been a big supporter of the band ever since I blind purchased their album "Jord." To this day that record still grabs me and gets me so excited from start to finish, to the point where I've always considered them my second in command with modern Norwegian prog beneath the great Wobbler. Their last record, "Nattfiolen," was possibly their most popular and well received to date. I thought it was good, but not quite on the level of "Jord." However, there were some tracks on there that I really enjoy and still revisit. With that said, I did take some issue with some aspects of the record that unfortunately are really amplified on this release. On Pastorlia, I think there's just way too many ideas constantly clashing with one another. I feel like almost every single melody lacks a proper resolution. They've often been compared to Mirage-era Camel, which I can certainly see, Camel is my favorite band as my profile picture may suggest. However, though Camel would break into these twisting jazzy melodies and solos, they would always come together in the end for a pleasant melodic payoff. Here, every time I can feel it about to break out into just that, it sounds like the guitarist accidently played a fret below or above where he was supposed to. In turn, I just can't grab onto much here, the melodies are just not pleasing to the ear. This concept extends further into the actual song structures, which very often come off as touch-and-go. A lot of times as they'll jump from one passage to the next very sharply, lacking a good organic flow that this breed of mellower and lowkey prog really needs. Every now and then, it'll finally break out into a section of music I like, just to quickily simmer right back down into slow, mellow, background music. The vocals have never been the frontrunner or main driving force behind Jordsjos music, but here I think they fall particularly flat. For one, they also lack melody and seem to just be there for the purpose of being there. But mainly, a lot of times the instrumentation backing them up does very little to set the stage for the vocals or stand on its own with any sort of interesting playing. My favorite track is the 2 minute opener "Prolog," after that, the songs become very indistinguishable. As weird as it is to say, they sound very Jordsjo-by-numbers. Which isn't a distinct enough sound for me to be able to shrug off and jive with. The title track is one of the better songs, but it still suffers from having too much fat to trim leading to some real momentum issues. The closing track "Jord III" is probably all around the worst offender of everything I've criticized in this review, and it stings extra hard because the 1st two parts are both songs that I love dearly. I can sum it up in one sentence: they just don't develop their ideas on this album.

This record really makes me appreciate Wobbler for how well their songs flow and manage to keep you engaged with a strong grasp on the concept of melody. Now with all this said, DO NOT let me discourage you from checking out and potentially enjoying this album. This review is coming from the perspective of a fan, I really like this band and I've been trying to spread the word of their music for a couple years now. I will continue to listen to and support the band with their endeavors of future and past. I've only been a deep music fan for around 4-5 years now, and I can safely say this is one of the first times I've felt truly let down by a record from an artist that I love. However, I congratulate Jordsjo on pumping out another record and on finishing this much music with clearly a ton of work put into the writing, arranging and recording is a huge accomplishment and I'm grateful for this release. It just didn't do it for me, but it seems some other folks are enjoying it, so check it out!

2 Stars