HINTERLAND

At the time when this album came out, I was pretty blown away by the music of this album - great sounds, solemn atmosphere and all I knew already from the major prog acts of the 70's. In the course of years, my judgement has altered a bit - not in the album's favour. One thing is hearing genuine analogue synthesizers and other keyboards, the other one is hearing something very progressive or original. There is no doubt the this is a gifted band, in particular the keyboard player who is firmly in lead here and I love keyboard-based prog albums. Guitar comes to forefront sometimes and is inspired by Genesis/King Crimson movement.

The first track is a tour-de-force of Lars Fredrik Frøislie's keyboard repertoire. It is not a strong composition and could have been shorter. The length of the other two tracks is more appropriate, in particular, "Clair Obscur" sounds very Scandinavian a la Anglagard with melancholic motives and perfect tight playing.

I still like this album and it is recommended to all who have a good audio set and don't mind hearing retro 70's prog.