GAMLE MESTER

Norway's all-star virtuoso keyboard player is back with his second solo album.

1. "Demring" (5:01) an instrumental with a keyboard-centric YES-like sound palette used to construct a piece that could pass for a Wakeman-like piece that is informed by pre-20th Century classical music traditions as well as, I'm sure, some Norse folk melodies (and cheerful spirit). (I have to admit that the song's opening had me expecting a lead into something more like BOSTON's "Foreplay.") The delicate parts are my favorite despite the use of "dated" 90s electric "acoustic" piano sounds--I like the infusion of the John Tout-like Russian feel here. (9/10)

2. "Jakten På Det Kalydonske Villsvin" (10:09) a cool "little" epic that seems to bridge some of the sound produced by SEVEN IMPALE, IVAR BJØRNSON & EINAR SELVIK's Viking Prog Folk (2018's Hugsjá), and WOBBLER while presenting something that feels as if it was some relic from the 1970s that was just discovered in an old trunk hidden in a Norwegian country farmhouse. Unfortunately, this song does little to draw me in, hold my attention, or wow me: Lars' vocals and melody lines chosen for his vocals are a bit too foreign (or just plain drab and monotonous) to the way my little American brain has been conditioned. (17.5/20)

3. "Gamle Mester" (7:17) in terms of the flow of this album, this song feels immediately as if it is a more dynamic continuation of the previous song. As one lets oneself get immersed, it begins to feel and sounds like a song that was inspired by FOCUS' "Hamburger Concerto"; as masterful--and, I don't doubt, original--as this piece is I never stop hearing the Focus song at any time in Lars' song (okay, maybe for a bit during that seventh minute)--which, I have to admit, does, unfortunately, distract me. (13.375/15)

4. "Medusas Flåte" (9:08) injecting a little more guitar rock (and BLUE ÖYSTER CULT/FALCO/ SIMPLE MINDS sounds and melodies) into his mixes (despite still being generated by keyboards) sounds like it might be a good idea, but it is the more "natural" (or, perhaps more accurately, "familiar") keyboard sounds and tracks that attract my attention (despite their being "familiar" due to their presence/prevalence in the "classic" symphonic prog music created back in the 1970s). I like the prominent organ work in the song's third quarter. (17.75/20)

5. "De Tre Gratier" (12:27) harpsichord opening certainly propels one back a few centuries. But then full prog palette bursts forth at 1:00 to present a conglomeration of multifarious layers for the next three dynamic minutes before devolving back into a harpsichord piece over which Lars lends his gentle vocalese before a synth enters to solo like a wood nymph. At the end of the eighth minute the more bombastic motif returns with Ketil Einarsen adding his wonderful woodland flute prominently to the mix, becoming the lead and co-lead during the tenth and eleventh minutes, respectively (as I hear in my head the high-reaching voice of Andreas Wettergreen singing like he did on Wobbler's wonderful Rites at Dawn LP from 2011--which is still my favorite album from that band). At 9:20 Ketil and Lars transition into a slower pastoral motif as a bridge to the song's final motifs: first pounding militaristic rhythm then the more JETHRO TULL-like Bluesy Prog Folk stop-and-go motif--both of which Ketil continues to lead over the rest of the layers--until the final 90 seconds when Lars merges several of the previous motifs into a multi-layer weave until the delicate little dénouement of the final 10 seconds. It's empirically quite a nice composition--perfect as an example of the "prog epic" format--with lots of twists, turns, stops, rocket launches, layers and well-harmonized weaves; it just fails to win me over--fails to get my adrenaline pumping or heartstrings pulled. (22.125/25)

6. "Skumring" (3:13) solo voce of that "dated" 90s electric "acoustic" piano. Maybe Mussorgsky would've used the same equipment if he were a product of the 21st Century! The the piano is the star, I really do like the way Lars uses the timpani, cymbals and Mellotron. (9/10)

Total Time 47:15

I feel as if I'm sitting on a fence with regards to how I feel about this album. Despite well-conceived broad-scale keyboard-oriented compositions, I have to admit that retro/"classic era" imitative music like this finds itself falling on numb ears: I just don't enjoy it (anymore); it rarely feels fresh to me. While I respect Lars' careful and insightful homage to the pillars of the Ancients, it's just not where my interests or preferences lie. At the same time, I do find myself quite entertained by Lars' keyboard work--especially his performances on the various organs--and especially in the thinner, more folk/pastoral passages.

As I stated in my review of Lars' previous solo album, 2023's Fire Fortellinger: despite Lars' obvious overflow of talent, I do think he would benefit from more inputs from other collaborators (besides the wonderful Ketil Einarsen and bass wizard Nikolai Hængsle)--(especially a drummer)--if only for a broadening spectrum of ideas (and sounds). (Perhaps he's been publishing these solo albums due to his former band [Wobbler]'s sluggish output since 2020. Perhaps they've even disbanded?)

B/four stars; a masterful conveyance of expertly-conceived "retro prog" that, for whatever reason, fails to draw me in emotionally. While I applaud the music from an intellectual perspective, that isn't always enough for me.

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