TRIBUS

The Windmill from Norway is one of my fav progressive rock bands in last decade. I have a soft spot for their music since they released their first album in 2010 named To be continued.... Formed in 2001 but only in 2010 they come with thir first opus who become quikly a respected album in this genre, the second album was issued in 2013 and now in 2018 they released third album named Tribus. I love this album and everything thei offer from the music to the excellent art work made by the wife Kirsten K. Viita of the vocalist/keybordist , really excelletnt work that goes hand in hand with the music. Now, the music is more then great, with lots of intresting arrangements, with each musician shining on their instruments. Opening with the longest piece of the album The tree, what a great opener for sure, keyboards and guitar built together in a perfect unit in 23 minute i was in another world. Great changes in tempo and top notch musicianship strong are the flute moments who gives a certain vintage atmophere overall. Follow Storm - an instrumental piece with nice melodic passages and all the ingredients to be a fairly solid tune, I like a lot the guitar parts, Stig Andr' Clason ( I guess the son of Morten Clason responsable for flute and sax here) done a marvelous job, really fantastic guitar lines . Dendrophenia is a short pieces clocking around 5 min, remind me of Uriah Heep in parts, a nice one again. Make Me Feel is another top tune, balanced arrangements, nice vocals, all is here. The ending Play with Fire, ends a the album in a beautiful elegant manner, very nice vocal parts and flute. So , all in all Tribus is well balanced going from mid tempo passages to more up tempo in nice skilfull manner, from melodic lines to more heavy prog , passages thet flows very well and with substance. All pieces are excellent, not a weak or boring moments here. Tribus is to me one of the better examples how must sound a good solid prog rock album these days. Love it from the first spin. Recommended for sure, The Windmill is one of the best exponets in prog rock relam in last decade. 4 stars without hesitation. I love this band and all 3 albums are recommended, plus the art work and booklet is brilliand again.

R.I.P. - Sam Arne Nøland - the drumer of The Windmill, who sadly passed away during the recordings of Tribus, in september, never been able to see the final result. he done a solid job on all 3 albums.

Norwegian band THE WINDMILL have been around in one form or another since 2001, and when they released their debut album back in 2010 they were a band that had developed into a tight and compelling unit that knew perfectly well what they wanted to achieve and how to go about it. Hence they hit the ground running, and have kept up ever since. "Tribus" is their third studio album, and was released through Norwegian label Apollon Records in the late fall of 2018.

The Windmill is a band that, if it isn't already present, should be added to the check list for just about anyone with an interest in early to mid 70's progressive rock. I find it rather charming that they choose to combine several aspects of vintage era progressive rock with a wee bit of vintage hard rock as well, which as I regard it makes the album experience one with at least a potentially broader reach. Be that as it may be, in their chosen field this is a solid band with a solid new album to their name.

It is safe to say I had been eagerly awaiting this album, as I had awarded their 2013 release 'The Continuation' 10/10, and at long last the Norwegians are back with their third album. Any band who starts an album with a song well in excess of 20 minutes are always setting themselves up for critical backlash from anyone who doesn't really enjoy the genre, but for me I just sat back and let the music build and take me into their wonderful. Flute and acoustic guitar makes one immediately think of classic Camel, but then we move into Jadis crossed with Rick Wakeman and at six minutes one realises there still haven't been any vocals yet! There just isn't room for them as the music builds, then just thirty seconds later the music drops in tempo, the piano comes in and Erik Borgen finally makes his presence felt. By now we are in Flower Kings' territory, and it is time to stop playing "spot the influence" and instead bask in what is yet another quite wonderful album. Harmony vocals? Delicate emotional lead guitar? A keyboard player who moves between Mellotrons and piano? Woodwind? A bassist and drummer in perfect harmony who provide additional melody when it is required and pushes along when there is a requirement to give it an edge? Yes, all of that, and so very much more.

There is a refusal to sit too long in any one melody, or to feel they have to confirm to any rigid norms, while also creating progressive music which is very easy to listen to, full of hooks. It is an album to close the eyes to, and then get carried away on the sax line. Then compare opener "The Tree" to third track "Dendrophenia" which is far more rock based, with repeated riffs, showing they can get heavy when they want to. It feels that the band really can do no wrong, as this is the second album of theirs I have heard and it is yet another stunning piece of work. An album to just keep playing, time and again.

The recording sessions for Tribus, the third album by Norwegian prog maestros The Windmill, would be marred by the death of Sam Arne Nøland, the group's drummer. One can only hope that the group will find a way to balance respecting Sam's memory whilst keeping on going, because despite such difficult circumstances for all concerned the improvement over their previous album, The Continuation - which was no slouch itself - is notable.

Playing in a heavy style which at points puts me in mind of a "what-if" in which Jethro Tull merged with Uriah Heep (Jethro Heep? Uriah Tull?), the group also sneaks in gentler touches to their music reminiscent of, say, some of the more delicate moments of the neo-prog bands. This is served up in portion sizes to suit all appetites, from album- opening epic The Tree to the comparatively short and sweet closer Playing With Fire.

All great stuff, drawing on the instrumentation and attitude of 1970s prog without deliberately trying to replicate any particular approach to it in too slavish a manner. Truly, this is a Windmill of the participants' own specific musical vision; long may it keep turning.