Seven Impale - Summit (2023)

5 stars Bergen's finest young band presenting its third album since 2013, their first since 2016. Have they finally realized their potential?

1. "Hunter" (10:33) delicate chromatic piano play opens this (as the hunter patiently hides from his prey). As the music and story progress, we are find ourself fully in the realm of the music of VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR; comparison to the familiarity of the great epics of City of the Sun are equally unavoidable. The chaotic, multi-voice cacophony of the frenetic motif in the fifth and sixth minutes is a bit off-putting. And then there is the VDGG syncopated, oddly-time- signatured passage beyond that--before the weird Hawai'ian guitar and Santana-like "Oye Como Va" organ notes break open the even darker, heavier, thicker motif to follow. Man! The harsh Norse/Viking life-threads are still very much alive and ... proliferating (if not well). And they end on this note! What doom and gloom! And, I'm sure, they LOVE this! Powerful and masterfully complex--which I appreciate intellectually (and respectfully)--but it's just not my cup of tea. (17.5/20)

2. "Hydra" (10:34) this scaled-down Änglagård treatment seems so tame and accessible when compared to the previous spectacle. The choral almost-monastic vocals are quite interesting when paired and contrasted against the rather tame music below chugging away in a very straightforward 1980s lower tier metal (which reminds me of Peter Schilling's international hit, "Major Tom [Coming Home]" from 1983). As the saxophones and keyboard arpeggi take over the drivership we're enjoying the easy ride, but then, suddenly, at the seven-minute mark the band switches lanes and turns off onto a dirt road to speed through the countryside. The thick organ chords at the end of the ninth minute seem to connote the intrusion or competition of another entity--perhaps another vehicle on the same road-- but then the music seems to flow and drift off into a dreamy finish, so perhaps the organ power chords denote the accident--the end of the road, and the successive loss of consciousness and, presumably, life. Interesting and, by and large ... likable! (18/20)

3. "Ikaros" (9:26) rhythmically quite sophisticated, this song seems quite difficult to sing over as the vocals have a hard time enmeshing within the dense, often angular music. The rather wild and often-chaotic journey this song takes the listener on may, in fact, reflect the storyline of the famous tragic hero of the Greek myth. That does not, however, make it great. (17.5/20)

4. "Sisyphus" (13:22) more melodic and sensitive straight off the starting blocks, the pseudo-baritone singing voice that enters at the end of the first minute truly takes one by surprise--almost makes one laugh. But the vocalist remains committed and serious, so I am bound to give him a chance. The staccato and smooth instrumental passages between the vocal sections provide quite an interesting contrast with one another. The second foray into a vocal section is smooth, spacious, and jazzy while the vocalist now sings in a more familiar upper register before a pause that unleashes the full kinetic force of all band members--even the multiple voices singing the "higher" lyric. The chaotic Crimsonian release that occurs again as the protagonist has lost his boulder and it tumbles and rolls to the bottom of the mountain is intense and amazingly evocative of the frustration Sisyphus must feel. But he recoups, comes to terms with his sentence, and returns to the base of the mountain to take up his task once again. I can sense the resignation and futility in his spirit through the music--and then his utter resolve as he puts his shoulder to the boulder and begins pushing with his legs once again. As always, there is always a glimmer of hope: "Will this be the time? Will the gods finally have mercy?" In the ninth minute this all comes to a head as he approaches the summit with newfound hope and optimism (even an attempt at staying hidden--maybe sneaking in "under the radar" of the gods' notice). Excellent music. Excellent job of conveying the emotions and of this tragic "hero's" repetitious, circuitous existence. Full marks, Seven Impale! You've finally achieved/realized the potential we all saw in that astonishing debut album of yours! (30/30)