WAVING AT THE SKY

Follow up to one of my albums of the year: the Approbation ( 2023) Scandinavia have usurped Italy in the prog rock canon these last few years and Avkrvst are living proof. I see Haken as a main comparison -and Ross Jennings does appear on one track here. Preceding is a short track opening with keyboards and evolving into heavier territory before an anthemic middle and heavier ending with spoken words 9/10 The Trauma has an angry instrumental beginning - Porcupine Tree like - guitar comes in near 2 minutes ( brilliant) with vocals reminding me of Haken ( in English by the way) Growls at 5 minutes to end 9/10 Families are Forever. A longer track at 7.50 -beautiful intro,acoustic guitar follows by softer vocals. The vocals on this album are superb. Brief growls at 2.17 which I don't usually like but contrast nicely with the laid back song. Keys come in at 3.50 - also a highlight of this album. The guitar and keys at 6 minutes are wonderful. 10/10 Conflating Memories. A similar start to the previous track - clean vocals -more great guitar at 3 minutes when the track becomes fuller -heavier at 4.45 when a great synth solo comes in and lead guitar closes - superb 10/10 The Malevolent. Haken Ross Jennings adds vocals to this short,catchy rocker - very Haken - play loud in the car ! 10/10 Ghosts of Yesteryear. Heavy beginning,great bass -keys come in at 1.36 -quietens at 2.15 with vocals over a mellotron sound,before guitar joins in -note Edvard Seim for guitarist of the year - pace quickens again after 4 minutes when tension builds,then relents. A feature of Avkrvst -they keep you guessing as to where the music goes. 10/10 Waving at the Sky. Title track and longest at 12.19. Everything the band does well is encapsulated in the wonderful track. Simon Bergseth vocals ( another contender for male vocalist) begins the track slowly with great backing vocals and at 3.35 the track builds magnificently and enter a new phase with spoken male and female vocals. At 5.45 the pace quickens with keys leading the way -growls come in at 7.14 not for long and a wonderful synth solo follows before the magnificent ending from the whole band 10/10 A modern masterpiece - must be an album of the year or the decade come to that.

This is the second album from this Norwegian band. The music features heavy progressive elements and strong melodies, showcasing some breathtaking moments. 45 minutes that go so fast that you want more. There is the use of clean vocals and occasional growls throughout the album. Also, I enjoyed the loud bass sound and the cool drum parts. The band can go on a fast pace with some heavy passages and slow things down with some beautiful acoustic guitar parts. The songs have a natural flow in them that keeps you focused until the end. You can hear some influences from the Swedish school of Opeth and Anekdoten, which gives you an idea of how the music sounds here. If all the songs are excellent, and you don't want to skip any one of them, my favorites would be the angry "The Trauma" and the last one, "Waving to the Sky," displaying all the elements that the band uses on the previous songs with some tempo changes. The presence of Ross Jennings on one song brings the Haken influence, but I don't think it represents the sound of the album here.

"Preceding" with a syncopated sound, a frenetic staccato pad, Steven Wilson on one side, the raging bass on the other, an electric tune followed by a honeyed groove. An instrumental full of amphetamines, the sound reminding me of OSI in some way; real lyrics taken from the trial and the court is open. "The Trauma" follows, OPETH in sight; riff, electric, a propulsive pad for vitamin-packed progressive metal. Simon uses his clear voice as he pleases to move and attack the magnitude of the story; the languid acoustic guitar amplifies the perceived pain with the targeted growled final vocal. "Families are Forever" contemplative tune with the acoustic guitar supporting the melancholic keyboard, depressed voice then a hellish growl for a time, like a foreshadowing undertow. The synths are warm and captivating, with a djent feel, an acoustic exploration and a growl explosion, creating a weighty, oppressive instrumental atmosphere. The guitar brings the track to a head, distilling a message of hope. The solo melts into the feeling, oozing with melancholy, and the hairs suddenly stand on end. The Genesis-esque keyboard suddenly amplifies the pastoral atmosphere; a stunning piece combining emotion, aggression, and sensitivity. "Conflating Memories" features an ostinato guitar, an ethereal vocal variation followed by a folk flute entrechat; a fluid, consensual, monolithic melody that gradually builds and builds, the highlight of the track taking its time... It's time for Auver's hushed, rich, joyful, intense, and intimate keyboard solo, all within. The vocals return and launch Edvard's guitar solo to capsize any potential recalcitrant, as does the final fade-out vintage organ.

"The Malevolent" with the participation of Ross from HAKEN on a sound... of HAKEN and OPETH in addition doom; the solemn, Dantesque chorus, the captivating choirs, concentrated to give a little more madness and publicity to this group of which I had spoken as one of the best first prog albums upon its release. "Ghosts of Yesteryear" continues, mysterious intro, electro-jazzy-rock air, the bass and the djent guitar at will. The drum pad maintains a hellish rhythm during these two minutes before Simon speaks softly of a terrible drowning: flute, keyboard and lead guitar to erase this terrible moment, delicious climate becoming explosive with the tenacious riff. A concentrate of clarity, sweetness, languor and dynamite. "Waving at the Sky" also continues for the eponymous title; redundant acoustic on an atmospheric synth pad, languor of the vocal, rise of the piece. The opening section is conventional, latent, supported by synthesizers worthy of Porcupine Tree. The vocal break with effects and its drum variation launches into the hypnotic, enterprising, repetitive keyboard solo; the syncopated keyboard gives way to a growl for a moment before returning to a more academic sound, resolutely modern, symphonic, and solemn with its distant elegiac choirs. The rise never ends, like the horror enunciated, but the music is there to lift one to heaven and greet those who will be there. The outro fades in for a languid vibration of our crazy society; dive into its musical drawer like medicine.

AVKRVST has created a conceptual album without being a concept; a prog rock album of the 2020s with a tenuous, fleshy, captivating, malleable, and catchy sound, flirting with OPETH. A sound guiding one toward exaltation and reflection; A true evolution of today's prog sound. Originally from Profilprog.

A band of promising young Norwegians are showing their serious enthusiasm for a career in music as they have, with this album, returned (in less than two years) with their sophomore album release.

1. "Preceding" (3:13) solid instrumental power prog with a great sound palette, great rhythmic force, and cool engineering. I'm not as much of a fan of the monotonous single chord motif that dominates the third minute, but otherwise a song that gives me great promise for the rest of the album. (9/10)

2. "The Trauma" (5:17) picking right back up from where "Preceding" left off, I'm discovering reminders of bands like Distorted Harmony, Stare At The Clouds, Atmospheres, and Taylor Watson as I listen to this. When Simon Bergseth's vocals enter to become the featured item of the song, my associations to American and Australian Heavy Prog/Prog Metal bands only increases--and then you get the Death Metal growls at the end and the categorization is complete! I like it! (9.125/10)

3. "Families are Forever" (7:49) the requisite slowed down, spacious complex drum play that seems so common to 21st Century Prog Metal bands--especially the good ones who use atmospheric sections in some of their songs. Here is where the quality and skill of a singer's voice is really tested and Simon flies through with great results! He's no Ian Kenny (Karnivool) or Einar Solberg (Leprous) but he is great--on a level with The Contortionist's Michael Lessard and others. Awesome synth-wash-backed guitar solo in the seventh and eighth minutes! A song worthy of a place in the pantheon of great atmospheric Prog Metal songs! (14.375/15)

4. "Conflating Memories" (6:59) what starts out fine seals the deal with that awesome key/chord change at 0:49! Genius (and daring)! The multi-voice chorus singing is a bit hokey/fake sounding, but the compositional surprises and rich sonosphere more than make up for it. In the fourth minute Edvard Seim gives us another guitar solo that really grabs the listener's attention: it's not so flashy just solid, melodic, smooth, and satisfying--like something by Mirek Gil or perhaps David Gilmour. Then, at the end of the fifth minute a Moog-like synthesizer solo takes over as the band shifts into a darker, heavier minor chord structure. A little more singing, a little more guitar soloing, and the band decides on a long fade out to end it. Great stuff! (9.25/10)

5. "The Malevolent" (3:24) a solid song that feels like a 21st Century sound palette presentation of a 1990s LINKIN PARK song--and it sounds so easy for them: they sound like their just cruising along on laid back autopilot! At the same time, something minor is missing: I'm not sure if it's enthusiasm or originality but there's just a little too much ease. (8.875/10)

6. "Ghosts of Yesteryear" (6:17) a complex and challenging composition in which the band display some quite diverse and sophisticated stylistic and sonic faces: after starting out with some high-speed intricate instrumental djenty metal play while incorprating some B parts with Haken-like synths they suddenly switch early in the third minute to a Motorpsycho/Needlepoint-like pastoral acoustic vocal folk sound and motif--and then back to the crashing metal motif at the end of the fourth, employing the folk melody for a bit before descending back into the sophisticated djenty stuff! And then they kind of combine it all with Simon singing in a mellifluous voice. Very interesting . . . and bold! (9.125/10)

7. "Waving at the Sky" (12:19) the album's only epic, it comes in three parts, ABAB-CD-EF. The first two minutes sounding very much like the Naughties' hot Manchester band, DOVES, the next section (chorus) coming across as more THE PINEAPPLE THIEF despite the return to the opening motif after the first chorus. At the 4:00 mark, segueing from the second chorus, the band sways into a C section before devolving into a cacophony of distorted gremlin voices seeming to be in the middle of arguing while a PORCUPINE TREE-like motif materializes at 5:45 from behind before taking over. The ensuing synth-arpeggiated three-chord odd-timed motif is as much like Fear of a Blank Planet PT as anything, but then in the first half of the eighth minute Simon's death metal growls segue into some of that middle-register saw-synth soloing that we hear near the end of "Conflating Memories." But then we come out "into the Light" with a Neo-Prog like ending. Great drumming--as it has been throughout the album; mega kudos to stick man Martin Utby. (23/25)

Total Time 45:21

The band's 2023 debut, The Approbation, leapt onto the scene to great acclaim, presenting a band with great promise. Well I'm here to tell you that that promise (or potential) is being realized!

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of refreshing new prog. Highly recommended for all prog lovers.

AVKRVST is a Norwegian progressive metal band. Their debut album, "The Approbation" (2023), was produced in a cabin deep in the Norwegian forest, far from civilization, and garnered widespread attention. The band made a huge impression at the MidWinter Prog Festival in Utrecht, the Netherlands, on January 25th.

Following their conceptual debut about a desolate, stranded soul living alone in a cabin, far from civilization, and trying to come to terms with death, Waving at the Sky builds on everything the band had going for them, telling a dark and devastating story that takes it to the next level.

The reception for their previous album was greater than the band ever imagined. Since its release, the band has performed live in Norway, as well as in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, but to stay true to themselves, the members have repeatedly returned to the mountain cabin where they began. There, they delved deeper into their musicality and faced various challenges, resulting in this album, which takes the band in a more original direction. Story- wise, "Waving at the Sky" is a prequel to their previous album, "The Approbation," and is inspired by a tragic family tragedy. Very interesting album.