SACRAMENT

1. "Anamnesis" (9:11) a very gentle, spacious opening with a wonderful reminder of the talents of singer Sylvia Erichson. Such a delicate pastoral weave as this is such a welcome change from the usual prog bombast. Sylvia's nearly a cappella folk performance in the fifth and sixth minutes confirms how folk-based this music is. Even when it gets amped up at the end of the sixth minute it still retains a folk rock feel to it. The church organ YES-like section building and developing in the eighth minute is quite well done. Impressive! (17.75/20)

2. "Paper Moon" (6:44) weird sound engineering, weird vocal on this NeoProg song but I like the instrumental section in the fourth minute and the clarity given each track. (8.75/10)

3. "The Crucible" (7:32) opening with anachronistic folk guitar, flutes and recorders, and more traditional street-performing percussion instruments is a brilliant move. The collective weave is right in line with that "mediæval" or old folk sound that I think the band was going for. Flautist Ketil Vestrum Einarsen even leads with some melodica in the third minute before music ramps up into the more rock realms of prog rock. Despite the pulsing Genesis foundation over the course of the final four minutes of this, the wind instruments and pseudo wind synthesizers and other keyboards maintain a kind of folk conversationality to the lead instruments on the top. The music moves into a summatory motif for the song's final 30 seconds. Interesting finish--a little inconsistent with all that had transpired leading up to that point. (13.25/15)

4. "The Last Rose of Summer" (3:23) acoustic guitar and flute performing a very relaxing folk duet are suddenly joined by the very pleasant (very Anthony Phillips-like) doubled up voice of Jacob Holm-Lupo. Definitely a folk song. Beautiful. Jacob is joined by the lovely voice of Sylvia Erichsen to sing the lyrics in beautifully harmonized fashion. Lacking the melodic and lyrical hooks to make this a classic, it is, still, quite lovely--beautifully composed and performed. (9/10)

5. "Gnostalgia" (10:18) another gentle, oft-times ethereal folk-rock-like song and soundscape quite reminiscent of the work being done at the same time by prog folk band IONA. Gorgeous multi-reed led instrumental passage in the bucolic sixth minute with flute and oboe weaving in and out of each other's melody lines so perfectly. Unfortunately, it is the vocal passages taht are the most incongruous in the song, often upsetting the perfect pastoral tapestry and mood set down by the instruments. At the eight minute mark the band amps things up a little with the drums and foundational instruments like bass and Mellotron--a bit like Änglagård here. The carefree, quiet, lilting final minute is quite a nice send off. (17.5/20)

6. "The Reach" (10:59) ominous bass drone and flute melody build as Sylvia recites the "Ring-a-ring of roses" nursery rhyme in a crazed, voice. As soon as she finishes, the band launches into a rather jazzy rock direction while flute soars into the sky like a playful, active bird. At the three-minute mark everything shuts down to make space for Sylvia's still-scary recitation of some other dark poem. The next instrumental foray is more blues rock oriented with Hammond organ dominating the foundation as Sylvia sings in a low tone a new and different poem. A weird song that covers a lot of musical territory in the apparent effort of presenting some rather somber literary passages. Theatric and exploratory if nebulous in intent. (17.25/20)

Total Time: 48:09

An album I like far more than my rating scores would seem to indicate. The subtly folk-infused weaves are magnificent. What I think is lacking are the melodic or dynamic hooks and and heights that one would hope for in order to make it (or any song) particularly memorable.

B+/four stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection.

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