Soft Ffog
Is It Jazz?, 2022
8/10
A Norwegian instrumental quartet who hover around jazz, prog-rock and psychedelic sounds, Soft Ffog, i.e. Tom Hasslan (guitar), Axel Skalstad (drums), Trond Frones (bass) and Vegard Lien Bjerkan (keys) bring us blistering solos, throbbing bass, wild drums and sci-fi flavored keys on this excellent first record.
The quick listen leads with the warm keys and soothing psychedelic tendencies of “Chun Li”, where crisp drums and intricate guitar work can get quite forceful and dynamic, and “Zangief” follows with a hard hitting display of playful grooves, adventurous jazz textures and a whole lot of prog-rock fun.
The back half offers the initially bare, dreamy “Ken”, which showcases glowing synth and, later on, much guitar shredding amid acrobatic drumming, while “Dhalsim” exits the listen with a frisky pace of thundering drums, chugging guitars and nearly metallic ideas that weave in and out of exciting and exploratory song craft.
Originally intended to be a one off effort, though the members all play in other bands, their collective strengths make Soft Ffog a truly unique affair and a perfect starting point for the Is It Jazz? label.
Travels well with: Datadyr- Woolgathering; Himmellegeme- Variola Vera