I didn't know the Norwegians from 'Lumsk' who had a first period of activity in the 2000s with three studio recordings: 'Åsmund' in 2003, 'Troll' in 2005 and 'Det Vilde Kor' in 2007. Since then, nothing more until this unexpected album 'Fremmede Toner' which was released at the beginning of May 2023. Their rather broad label includes folk, metal, doom and progressive, but it is not primarily the qualifiers that came to mind when first listening to this opus, and the label of melodic progressive seems more appropriate to me, the whole being sprinkled with a Nordic folk imbued with serenity. Always led by the keyboardist 'Espen Warankov Godø' who set to music texts by Norwegian writers, this time, it is, among others, poems by authors such as 'Nietzsche' or 'Goethe' translated by the Norwegian poet ' André Bjerke' and therefore sung in their language except for two titles which are in English. The line up has evolved during these years of absence and it is now 'Mari Klingen' who provides the main vocals and 'Roar Grindheim' is the new guitarist, the rest of the band being unchanged.
We are welcomed by 'Det Døde Barn' which was the subject of a single and which introduces us to the beautiful singing of 'Mari Klingen' in a kind of very endearing refrain, the end of the title offering a magnificent crescendo, then, 'En Harmoni' continues in a progressive with remarkable changes of tempo and intensity, the electric guitars becoming more present while keeping a certain fluidity and the piano interventions of 'Espen Warankov Godø' bringing some sweetness. With 'Avskjed', the rhythm accelerates and this short title shows a remarkable second part alternating vocals and very original instrumental sections with a violin which twirls around jerky guitar riffs, then, 'Under Linden' moderates the ardor with a first half alternating soft acoustic sections and more muscular parts, the other half accelerating the tempo and deploying a beautiful energy, 'Mari Klingen' bringing all the power in her singing until the final instrumental runaway. Make way for the serenity of 'Fiolen' which unfolds beautiful melodic lines, then, the 8 minutes of 'Dagen Er Endt' raise the emotional slider a few notches in a slow procession with a few tempo changes in the instrumental sections, the singing of 'Mari Klingen' illuminating the whole of this title and the central passage touching the stars. We arrive at the half of this very beautiful progressive journey and the second part of the album continues with 'Das Tode Kind' which presents magnificent sound contrasts between dynamic sections and others borrowed from a beautiful serenity, the keyboards of Espen Warankov Godø' bringing a very particular richness to this title, then 'A Match', divided between ballad in the first part and energetic crescendo in the second, highlights the very beautiful vocal duo 'Mari Klingen' and 'Espen Warankov Godø'. Follow the compositions 'Abschied', 'Under den Linden' which have nothing to envy to the previous ones and which continue in this inventive melodic progressive, then 'Das Veilchen' has the air of 'Renaissance' and offers us a beautiful guitar solo 'Floydien' in the second part, and the album ends in style with 'The Day Is Done' which this time features the expressive vocals of Espen Warankov Godø', 'Mari Klingen' joining him in the middle of the title and the following instrumental section bringing a beautiful quiet strength before the grand epic finale.
In summary, the Norwegians of 'Lumsk' offer us a very beautiful album which takes us back a few decades to the best of progressive rock with catchy melodic lines that we appropriate from the first listen, the together being interpreted by talented artists (special mention to the vocal performances 'Mari Klingen') and if you like an accessible progressive and if you are not allergic to the Norwegian language, (which for me brings this real authenticity of the Nordisk countries), you should definitely adopt 'Fremmede Toner'... | |
