SAGA DE RAGNAR LODBROCK

Ahh... Ragnar Lodbrok... Pillager of France and annoyer of Britain. Claiming to be descended from Odin, Lodbrok was a fiend so full of greed and ambition that it probably served him right that he was thrown into a pit of poisonous snakes to meet his timely end. Bloody vikings... they caused nothing but trouble eh?.

'Saga de Ragnar Lodbrock' probably belongs with bands such as Univers Zero and Shub Niggurath due it's chamber music approach. This is actually a very pretty album played in a very tasteful way It's also accompanied by lots of vocals, all of which suit the feel of the album very well.

An underplayed album that sounds reasonably threatening and atmospheric whilst at the same time being sung in French. Of surprising note, one Jean Cohen-Solal (of Nurse With Wound List fame) appears with his flute on this recording. He flutes away quite nicely using his instrument sparingly.

There's a huge list of contributors to this album - and despite countless listens - for the life of me I don't hear any of them. Figments of Norse folklore perhaps? All I hear is a big booming voice, a few horns, militaristic drums and a couple of additional singers. That's not to say it's bad. Not by a long shot.

'Saga de Ragnar Lodbrok' is one of the more original and unusual recordings in the huge Prog Archives. They attempt to conjure up images of the year 840AD and do so quite well with multiple vocals and certain horns that sound just like 'Dead Can Dance'. I'd recommend this album to fans of theirs who like "Aion'

Unfortunately it all gets a bit too much from about three quarters of the way through where you finally realise things ain't gonna change or progress.