KROKOFANT

KROKOFANT are a young power trio out of Norway and they signed to the Rune Grammofon label. Certainly the album cover should remind people of other bands on that label like ELEPHANT9 and GRAND GENERAL. We get drums, guitar and sax and the music is mostly in the Free Jazz style although these guys are fans of Prog-Metal so it can be quite heavy. The sax reminded me of the late Elton Dean, at least when he's wailing away in a dissonant manner while the more regular sounding sax excursions remind me of KING CRIMSON's "Islands" period. Yes this can be difficult at times and truth of that is going to the RYM site and seeing how dreadfully low this album is rated. Man I dig this stuff though it can be over the top at times. It's not for the faint of heart, that's for sure. Oh, the name comes from cross breeding of the elephant and crocodile which apparently hasn't been perfected just yet.

"Polyfant" opens with these strange and unsettling guitar sounds( I believe) then the drums, guitar and sax kick in. Check out the insane sax after 3 1/2 minutes. Not worthy! "Supermann" has this precise and intricate interplay that is relentless until it all settles back before 2 1/2 minutes as we get random drum patterns along with the sax soloing over top in a dissonant way. "Bodega" impresses me with the low end sounding guitar as the drums rumble and the sax rips it up over top. A calm after 3 1/2 minutes which is welcomed at this point(haha) then the guitar and drums seem to feed off one another, so good! The guitar is lighting it up before 6 1/2 minutes then the sax returns just before 7 minutes and a minute later he's killing it.

The sax at the start of "Thispair" reminds me of "Islands" by KING CRIMSON. The guitar is digging deep and the drums seem to follow his lead. The sax gives way to the guitar briefly and when the sax returns it reminds me of KRAAN. "Ejs" is a short uptempo track where the guitar raises hell throughout. "Castaway" is the most laid back piece and the longest at over 12 1/2 minutes. Shades of MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA can be heard here as the tension is never released. A calm 3 minutes in as we get some atmosphere as sounds come and go. This is a beautiful section. It's building and the sax turns dissonant 9 1/2 minutes in. Incredible! Love the drumming over the final minute.

There should be some sort of a warning sticker on this album but once again the nation of Norway has blessed us with some very talented musicians who have come up with a recording that is both powerful and innovative. A solid 4 stars.