SUMMIT

Seven Impale is a Norwegian sextet that plays a fairly dark, heavy, jazz-inspired version of progressive rock. In many ways, they bear a lot of similarity to Van der Graaf Generator, albeit with more maximal arrangements. It's been seven years since their last release, so when they announced this, I was very excited to hear what they had been working on.

City of the Sun, their 2014 debut, is a stellar record and one of my favorite albums from that year. 2016's Contrapasso, though, never quite landed with me. It isn't bad, by any means, but it just lacked that certain something that would have allowed it to click. I think a lot of it had to do with the sheer length of that release. At 67 minutes, that's a lot of jazzy, sax-forward prog to listen to, and it became a bit exhausting. Compare that to their debut, which clocks in at 45 minutes. Summit, their new release, sees them staying in their usual vein, but consists of just four songs. So I went into this hopeful I'd like it.

Summit opens on "Hunter". After a quiet piano intro, sax, organ, and guitar storm forth in a pounding, blustery wall. The verse's arrangement is minimal and haunting, and the slow, simple guitar pattern manages to convey a lot of menace and tension. Overlapping, nigh-incomprehensible vocals are used to generate a sense of confusion quite effectively around this song's midpoint. The guitar line from the verse acts as an anchor for the band to repeatedly return to, and as the song nears its end, it turns into a full-on doom metal line.

"Hydra" has contrasting lines of clean guitar, sax, organ, and distorted guitar dancing around each other in its opening. The verse is tight and bouncy with an undercurrent of anxiety. The guitarwork channels many a post-punk act, but the organ flourishes add a lot of depth. As guitars insistently chug along in the background, synth, sax, and banjo (I think) pluck out a quirky pattern over the top. This eventually evolves into a heavier, lurching riff. Much like "Hunter", this song features explicit metal influence in its final few minutes. The organ, in particular, lends a sense of doom to everything.

A weird, distorted synthesizer, buzzy guitars, and powerful drums kick off "Ikaros". This is the most immediate of the songs so far, plunging into a weird, discordant verse quite quickly. The loose, group vocals and eerie organ tone lend this passage a creepy air. Some of the moments in this song remind me of a less-metallic version of Between the Buried and Me, particularly their more recent stuff. There's a ton of great instrumental interplay on this song, and the vocals are distinctive throughout.

This album ends on its longest song, "Sisyphus". After bouncing around between a few musical ideas in its opening moments, this song eventually settles on a tense, lightly-jazzy backing for the verse. Sax and guitar effectively build tension, and the occasional blast of harsh static keeps the listener on their toes. After building tension for several minutes, this piece erupts into a Van der Graaf-inspired flurry of sax and organ, beefed up with some hard-hitting guitar backing. Following a particularly powerful passage, things calm down for a little while. Still, the odd meter and jazz touches lend a sense of anxiety against a relatively bright piano lead. It culminates with a hopeful-sounding conclusion, and it's a strong finish to this record.

Summit is a great return to form for Seven Impale. The music on this record is powerful and dynamic. The playing is top-notch, and these four songs all grow and evolve in compelling ways. If you're a fan of Van der Graaf Generator or 1970s King Crimson, this ought to be right up your alley.

Review originally published here: theeliteextremophile.com/2023/05/29/album-review-seven-impale-summit/