The Viking in the Wilderness - reviews and news

(45:40; Apollon Records) Track list: 1. You Make It So Damn Easy to Love You 4:39 2. Moral Police 4:28 3. Should I Cry for You 4:47 4. Ashes Bound 4:30 5. Transartic Lover 2:59 6. I Don't Believe in Science 4:12 7. Into the Ocean 4:08 8. Nothing up My Sleeve 4:41 9. Granit 4:14 10. Mother Receive, Mother Return 7:02 Line-up (according to discogs): Stein Roger Sördal - vocals, guitars, synthesizers Bjarne L. Severinsen - bass Tommy Jacksonville - drums Michael Aadal - guitars Kenneth Silden - synthesizers with: Endre Kirkesola - synthesizers Ole Jörgen Bardal - saxophone Tom Anders Klungland - guitars Norwegian project Sordal is the creative vehicle for composer and musician Stein Roger Sördal, who is most well known for being a member of progressive metal band Green Carnation. On this ongoing solo project Sordal has chosen to explore rather different types of music than with his main band, and from what I understand the style explored can be rather different from album to album as ...

(41:43; Apollon Records) Track list: 1. Error Come Save Me 4:20 2. Risky Pigeon 3:32 3. Swag 3:52 4. Cutest Offender 4:03 5. My Finest Eye 4:08 6. Solitude 3:30 7. Grustak 4:53 8. Salt Chair 4:36 9. Follow Me 3:23 10. Only For You 5:26 Line-up: Kristian Nicholas Lindseth - guitars, bass, piano, keyboards, vocals Jon Bolstad - drums, percussion Kjartan Ericsson - guitars, keyboards, vocals Kjell Arne Kjaergaard - vocals, synths, gleckenspiel, percussion Endre Aasebö - guitars, bass, piano, synthesizer, percussion, vocals with: Michael Barnes - saxophone Eirik Marinius Sandvik - keyboards, vocals Norwegian band Vestamaran is, to my understanding at least, a fairly new band that hails from the western parts of Norway. It would appear that the band started their activities sometime around 2019, at least that is indicated by the band logo, and in the summer of 2021 they released their debut album "Bungalow Rex" through Norwegian label Apollon Records. Vestamaran is one of those ba...

(37:37; Apollon Records [2021 Edition] ) Track list: 1. Crazy Eyes Go Blind 4:22 2. Turn the Page 3:29 3. Taste of the Money 4:29 4. Let's Walk the River 2:17 5. Evening Prayer 3:03 6. Wounded Bird 4:37 7. Tangles 4:27 8. It's Over 4:24 9. Old Lady 2:50 10. Absolutely Sweet Marie 3:39 Line-up: Rune Walle - vocals, guitars, banjo, harmonica Cato Sanden - vocals, guitars Jarle Zimmermann - vocals, keyboards Johannes Torkelsen - bass Gunnar Bergström - drums Norwegian band Flying Norwegians is a band that became big in a hurry, but they stopped pretty much dead in their tracks when one of their main members was recruited by a much bigger US-based band just a couple of years into the band's career. They managed to record two albums with their classic line-up, and "Wounded Bird" is the second of those productions. First released back in 1976, the album was reissued in 2021 through Norwegian label Apollon Records. While this band impressed me quite a bit with their more...

(43:09; Apollon Records [2021 Edition] ) Track list: 1. Young Man 4:00 2. Time's Drawing Circles 3:42 3. Those Were the Days 4:16 4. Lucky Number 3:28 5. New Day 5:58 6. Behind the Words 3:57 7. Spanish Tragedy 3:22 8. Tricky Lies 3:10 9. Human Need 2:51 10. You'll Come Around 6:01 11. It Ain't Just Another Blow 2:24 Line-up: Rune Walle - vocals, guitars, banjo, harmonica Cato Sanden - vocals, guitars Jarle Zimmermann - vocals, keyboards Johannes Torkelsen - bass Gunnar Bergström - drums with Harald Dyb - guitars Norwegian band Flying Norwegians were formed back in 1974, and in their first few years as an active band they released some solid, popular and classic albums in Norwegian music history. "New Day" is the first of these albums, and was originally released back in 1974. In 2021 Norwegian label Apollon Records decided to reissue this album, which had been out of print for a while at that point. Flying Norwegians have been described as a country rock band, an...

(36:21; Manic Records) Track list: 1. Drown It Out 4:34 2. Straight Up With You 3:35 3. The Truth 4:39 4. First Boy on the Moon 3:20 5. All Right Already 3:08 6. Grim Reaper 5:05 7. If This Isn't Love 3:35 8. What Alice Was Talking About 4:31 9. Pretty Vicious 3:54 Line-up: David - vocals, guitars Julius - guitars Jens - bass Johannes - drums with: Andy Horvath - drums Swedish band THE FIRST BOY ON THE MOON was formed in 2019 by band leader David Pedroza, a US citizen currently situated in Sweden. From the start the band has been an active creative unit, releasing a total of ten singles in 2019 and 2020. Nine of those songs have been collected to make up the contents of the band's debut album, "First Boy on the Moon", which was released in the fall of 2021.   The band are self-described as being inside the parameters of indie and alternative rock, and to my mind that is a fair description of the contents here. These are fairly conventional songs in structure, but the ...