'Arabs In Aspic' is a Norwegian progressive rock band in the great tradition of groups from the 60s and 70s with 'King Crimson' in mind which was created in the late 90s and which is, with 'Madness and Magic', at his 6th studio recording, 2018 having seen the release of a live 'Live at Avantgarden'. They offer us 6 tracks for a fairly short duration of 46 minutes, long developments are generally present in this style of music.
The album opens with the very classic 'I Vow To Thee, My Screen' which unfurls in an atmospheric style a fairly repetitive melody but very pleasant to listen to which takes us back to the 70s with formations like 'Genesis' or 'Barclay James Harvest'. Without transition, it is with the two parts of 'Lullaby For Modern Kids' that we continue with first of all, a very original long progressive development which offers us very beautiful instrumental 'Floydian' passages and beautiful vocal harmonies here and there which are one of the strong points of this group, then, a short 2nd part which is a semi-acoustic with beautiful melodic lines. Change of style with 'High-Tech Parent' which takes us on a light and more rhythmic title which could be a mix between the vocal harmonies of 'Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young' and the ambiences of 'Santana', then the eponymous title of the album begins in a very calm way with arpeggios of guitar and a few layers of keyboards then takes up fullness slightly after 2 minutes for a soothing melody in which the vocals alternate several registers. It is with the masterpiece 'Heaven in Your Eye', of more than 16 minutes, that the album ends with an alternation between sung and instrumental parts which can only recall the years 60/70, the keyboards bringing this delicious vintage side with here and there, oriental tones but which, as often in great inventive and elaborate developments of this kind is not necessarily immediate and therefore requires several listenings to extract all the richness.
In summary, the Norwegians of 'Arabs In Aspic' continue to delight us with a progressive rock with sounds in the lineage of the groups of the 60s / 70s and 'Madness and Magic' is recommended to an audience loving the beginning of the progressive and is to be enjoyed quietly the headphones on the ears... | |
