EX TENEBRIS

Three years after the very good ''Ignis Fatuus'' White Willow returned with their sophomore effort ''Ex Tenebris'', offered again through The Laser's Edge.Jacob Holm-Lupo refreshed the line-up in a significant deegree, only keyboardist Jan Tariq Rahman remained stable.New entries were female singer Sylvia Erichsen and Dødsverk/Prosessor Balthazar's bassist Frode Lia.But the biggest addition was definitely Änglagård's drummer Mattias Olsson.

This has to be one of the best laid-back Progressive/Folk Rock albums of the 90's, somewhat similar to ERIS PLUVIA and EZRA WINSTON, with a strong Scandinavian feel and some absolutely ethereal arrangements.The album is full of lush orchestrations with an incredible, dreamy and nostalgic atmosphere, that alternates between very smooth and melodic themes and darker/deeper territories.The later are mostly driven by the haunting organ of Rahman and the psychedelic drumming of Olsson, delivering a pastoral but also very cloudy mood along the lines of GOBLIN.''Ex tenebris'' is filled with some excellent Mellotron parts, calm piano interludes, medieval acoustic tunes and occasional electric textures with a strong melodic content and intense folky vibes both in the musical and vocal sections.Synths are used sporadically in a grand symphonic line.Speaking of vocals, these seem to play a major role in the album and all you can say is that they are absolutely magnificent with a crystal-clear color.The amalgam offers a fantastic result, moving, dreamy and well-arranged music full of imaginary soundscapes.

With ''Ex Tenebris'' Holm-Lupo established himself as a great songwriter and composer.Scandinavian Symph/Folk Rock with a unique atmosphere of its own and impressive lyrical moments.Highly recommended.