Decidedly, after the return to the 70s of'Arjen Lucassen' with his homage to early hard rock, it's singer and muti-instrumentalist 'Lars Fredrik Frøislie''s turn to release an album, this time in a progressive style that takes us back to the same years. Lars is part of the Norwegian band 'Wobbler' whose latest album 'Dwellers of the Deep' dates from 2020. Lovers of great progressive developments, you will be delighted because this first solo album by the Norwegian contains only four compositions, two between 6 and 7 minutes and two frescoes of more than 16 minutes each. It should be noted that we find both the sounds of 50 years ago and the techniques used at that time, which have since been swept away by the arrival of the computer, because the whole thing was captured in a single catch with all the consequences that entails: now, as everything seems perfectly smoothed by computer reprocessing, it wrongly looks like they are recording errors; I will simply speak of spontaneity allowing room for improvisation.
These four compositions, all sung in Norwegian, each tell a story: the first fresco of almost 17 minutes, 'Rytter av dommedag', has the theme 'Ragnarok', which in Norse mythology tells of the end of the world which will see the total extinction of both Gods and Men caused by natural disasters. Musically, we are taken into a magnificent progressive labyrinth in which it is good to get lost to let go according to the different atmospheres deployed, then when you have finally found the exit (what a remarkable epic finale!), to come back to discover other corners not explored previously because this kind of title deserves to linger there to draw all the richness from it. In this title, I find melodic similarities with 'Renaissance' which I had discovered quite late in the early 80s and which has always been one of my references in progressive. Follows 'Et sted under himmelhvelvet' which makes us travel in a succession of different atmospheres with a soft introduction lulled by the flute, then the central instrumental passage gradually gains momentum and accelerates the rhythm to fall 1.30 later in a very refined atmosphere with a few layers of keyboards accompanied again by the flute to return to the starting theme in the finale: another very beautiful title! Always in a calm atmosphere, 'Jærtegn' still revives in me these long listening of 'Renaissance' with these sounds of Hammond organ and harpsichord and embarks me on a very beautiful soothing and relaxing journey. 'Naturens katedral' is the other masterpiece and this time takes us to the Norwegian mountains in winter where the cold is freezing, and where blizzards and avalanches abound. It is still a source of multiple twists that must be tamed listening after listening and shows a perfect balance between classicism and modernism, the peregrinations of the keyboards bringing a contemporary touch and the successive waves alternating different intensities and rhythms offering at each moment an originality and a variety that hooks the progressive listener throughout the title.
In summary, if you like the beginning of progressive rock with formations like 'Renaissance' for the melodic side and 'Emerson, Lake & Palmer' for the use of vintage keyboards, you should definitely adopt this first Norwegian solo album 'Lars Fredrik Frøislie' because 'Fire Fortellinger' would certainly now be a cult progressive album if it had been released in the 70s like the first 'Genesis' or the first 'Yes'... | |
