The Viking in the Wilderness - reviews and news

(51:33; Principal Records) Track list: 1. New Ground 8:19 2. Velvet Currents 7:24 3. Unfolded Silence 5:55 4. Bloom 5:12 5. Broken Thumb 6:03 6. Floating in the Dark 5:38 7. Twilight Serenade 3:37 8. Acid Roots 2:10 9. Whispers of Life 7:15 Line-up: Claudio Scolari - drums, programming Daniele Cavalca - drums, rhodes, piano Simone Scolari - trumpet Ilaria Cavalca - piano, voice Michele Cavalca - bass  Italian composer and musician Claudio Scolari has released albums as a standalone artist, in collaborations as well as albums under the name Claudio Solari Project for the last thirty years or so, at least from what I can find on the artists Bandcamp page. This summer the most recent entry to Solari's discography appeared in the shape of the album "Bloom", which was released on the label Principal Records. A label I suspect may be Scolari's own label, without that possible fact being all that important. It is a contemporary and expressive variety of jazz we get in this c...

(18:33; Jötunheimar) Track list: 1. Go Forth As Hel Hath Bade 2:38 2. Ravens of the Heathen Sun 4:47 3. Blackened Flames of Eternal Vengeance 5:18 4. By Naglfar Carried 5:50 Line-up: Odr - vocals, guitars, keyboards Crovore - bass Grim - drums Valfreyja - voices UK band Jötunheimar are one of the more recent additions to the UK metal scene, with the band forming as recently as 2023. This summer they self-released their debut EP "Ravens of the Heathen Sun". The four compositions at hand here takes us on a little bit of a journey, and at least when regarded from a core musical perspective it is a journey with an opening part setting the mood, two songs that flesh out the core elements explored and then a conclusion that ties everything together and takes the EP experience full circle. Our entry into this universe is an atmospheric creation consisting of a solemn piano, nervous strings and various kinds of sounds, effects and vocal style backing textures that creates a cold but ...

(35:17; Una Quinn) Track list: 1. Secret Getaway 2:58 2. Those Roads 3:46 3. An Coolin 2:45 4. Network 3:09 5. World to Come 3:06 6. Blue Skies 4:12 7. Little Anthem 3:33 8. Upshore 2:51 9. Shamrock 4:24 10. Storm 4:33 Line-up: Úna Quinn - vocals, guitars, keyboards, various instruments Neil Campbell  - guitars, keyboards, vocals with: Paraic O'Brien - violin Fergal O'Brien - bodhran samples Ian Cantwell - vocals  Martin Atherton - guitars, electronics Edward Moore - vocals  UK based artist Una Quinn released her debut album back in 2019, a self released production that became popular enough for the artist to proudly be able to proclaim a "sold out" status of this album on her Bandcamp page. Now in the spring of 2025 Quinn has returned with her second solo album "Little Anthem", and has once again chosen to release this album herself. This is one of those albums that probably can be designated to a few different styles and traditions, although the word acous...

(43:41; Trygger Music) Track list: 1. Tuggummi, Sol Och Betong 3:17 2. Zinkmannens Skafferi 6:38 3. Spif 4:36 4. Ormen Med Giget 3:22 5. Klätterträd 4:18 6. Cikadan Och Turturduvan 3:52 7. Waterslide 4:10 8. Trubbel I Källaren 5:24 9. Cocos Bolero 5:34 10. Melancholia 2:30 Line-up: Linus Kåse - alt saxophone Charlie Malmberg - baritone saxophone Håkan Trygger - double bass Daniel Kåse - drums, vibraphone Swedish foursome Coco Chatru Quartet are out with the album "Limbokolia", following just a year after their initial studio album. Like their previous album this production revolves around instrumental compositions inspired by the story of the Swedish adventurer Coco Chatru, in this case with a search for the mystical place Limbokolia being the issue explored in more detail.  With a much more detailed backdrop to the concept described on the album itself. "Limbokolia" was released by Swedish label Trygger Music in the early summer of 2025. Like with the previous albu...

(34:31; Pale Blue Dot) Track list: 1. For the Beauty of Miranda 5:07 2. Destruction or Resurrection 4:16 3. (h)eart(h) 5:54 4. Green Fairy Tale 5:07 5. Rollercoaster 3:25 6. Alone 4:15 7. Star Cloud 6:27 Line-up: Tommaso Lampronti - vocals, guitars, synthesizers Enrico Bongiovanni - guitars Cosimo Tanzarella - bass, synthesizers Francesco D’Astore - drums Italian band Pale Blue Dot were formed sometime around 2015, and following some years of finalizing a fixed line-up they have been working intently on the creation of their debut album. In the early summer of 2025 the results of those efforts were self-released as the album "(h)eart(h)". In many ways, this is a production that makes me recall the sounds and the vibes of the 1980s, but in this case with a little bit of an upgraded or modernized take on some of the sounds I recall from that decade. A modernized, but ultimately also a retrospective creation might be a little bit of a description here, and a key phrase to use fr...

(41:28; Trygger Music) Track list: 1. Ner I Djupet 6:05 2. Kampsång 5:14 3. Plötsligt Händer Det 5:06 4. Daggdroppe 4:57 5. Flapjack 5:32 6. Tillbaka Till Hytten 6:09 7. Paubrazil 4:24 8. På Flykt (X) Genom Djungeln 4:01 Line-up: Linus Kåse - alt saxophone Charlie Malmberg - baritone saxophone Håkan Trygger - double bass Daniel Kåse - drums Swedish foursome Coco Chatru Quartet appears to have formed sometime around 2022, at least according to their website, with members that are described as seasoned musicians. According to the information given on the album, the four men shared a fascination for the life of a Swedish adventurer that called herself Coco Chatru, and decided to write material inspired by the contents from the letters she left behind after passing away. The result of that creative process became the album "Future", which was released on vinyl LP by the label Trygger Music in 2024, and that subsequently hit the digital streaming services now in 2025. While I do n...

(28:38; Neuma Records) Track list: 1. Hout [Louis Andriessen] 10:24 2. The Force for Good [Michael Fiday] 18:14 Line-up: Erin Rogers - saxophone Jay Sorce - guitars Andrea Lodge - piano Chris Graham - percussion  US ensemble Hypercube have been a feature in the US music scene for a decade or thereabouts from what I understand, with a number of live performances to their name in addition to releasing two studio albums as of 2025. The most recent of these, "The Force for Good", appeared in the spring of 2025 through US label Neuma Records. While I guess that the landscapes explored on this production could be described in a number of different manners, I suspect that experimental music would be my primary choice here, and if a specific style and tradition were to be called for I'd probably say that jazz is the primary voice here and that impulses from classical music probably are present too.  This quartet have chosen to navigate fairly challenging territories on this produ...