WATCH FOR THE UMBLES

Papa Smurf and the rest of the Smurfs should be plenty worried now. This Gargamel knows what it's doing and is not to be underestimated! Sorry, I couldn't resist. Anyway, here is yet another Norwegian band that plays progressive music reminiscent of the 1970's. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. If you like bands like VDGG, King Crimson, and Anekdoten; you will love Gargamel.

Gargamel's music is very dark, ominous, and foreboding. This isn't something you listen to when you want to feel and warm and cheery. In fact, there are a lot of similarities between the opening track Ties and the music of Matthew Parmenter / Discipline. It's a great instrumental track with lots of angular, disjointed organ and guitar riffs. Parts of the track really bring forth memories of Canto IV from Discipline's Unfolded Like Staircase album. Strayed Again is starts off with plenty of haunting and melancholy cello and a slow, evil sounding progression. The vocals are both depressed and tortured sounding with the occasional angry snarl. The band won't earn any special awards in the vocals category, but they do fit the music well enough not to detract from what they are trying to communicate. The music then extends into a rather jazzy sounding jam with some wonderful cello playing augmented with flute and some tasty bass work. This is followed by another jazzy jam featuring some excellent electric piano, bass, and great understated drum and deft cymbal work.

Throughout the rest of the songs you begin to hear that there are some very skilled musicians here with a definite talent for creating interesting, moody music. They make wonderful use of a lot of varied musical instruments to give each composition a distinct texture and sonic identity. The band uses as much cello as early Anekdoten, just without the intense King Crimson like bombastic accompaniment. Their sound still has those influences, but they are also mixed rather well with jazz and psychedelia. I really enjoy what I've heard on Watch for the Umbles and can't wait to hear what they come up with next.