Svartisen
Apollon, 2022
8/10
The nearly 5 decade collaboration between Odd-Roar Bakken and Nils Larsen, as Kornmo the pair birth a very creative blend of jazz and prog-rock that’s instrumental and never short on technical wizardry.
“Snø” gets the album off to a warm start with fluid keys before prog-friendly guitar enters the cautious territory, and “Nordlys” follows with groove filed bass work and crashing drums as a more firm presence enters.
In the middle, the key led “Havørn” quickly turns into a dynamic and flowing display of diverse, retro ideas, while “Fallvind” spends 10 minutes mesmerizing us with its soft acoustic guitar and bouts of buzzing ambience.
Residing close to the end, “Haredans” offers a quick and fluid meshing of key acrobatics, swift drums and soaring guitars, and “Føn” exits the listen with the keys and strings interacting with much beauty in a cinematic sort of way.
A listen that’s full of very precise production and mixing, you’ll hear traces of folk music and jazz sensibilities as this concept album is a superb follow up to last year’s Fimbulvinter.
Travels well with: Kornmo- Fimbulvinter; Mythopoeic Mind- Hatchling