SOUP

Since my Bad Moon Rising review, I have kinda started to look back on albums that I have some form of nostalgia, or very fond memories with. To me, nostalgia isn't necessarily a long ago kind of thing, like most people. For me, nostalgia can also happen relatively close to the present, and if anything, I believe music is a good way of recapturing a moment, even if that song, album, EP, etc, isn't particularly related to that moment. I said as much in my Tôtbringære review. So, imagine my surprise when a Norwegian post rock/prog rock band's album became synonymous with the town of Salem, Massachusetts.

To give some context, in late October 2022, I believe, me and my family went on a vacation to the east coast, from New York to Salem. This time period was also when I decided to make more Gryphon reviews. That aside, my favorite part of the trip was Salem itself. During this time, I was also getting into more contemporary prog artists, like Lunatic Soul, some Riverside, I also decided to check out some Motorpsycho EPs, and lo and behold, decided to listen to some Soup. My discovery of this band is something I don't quite recall, but if there is anything to go off of, I managed to find them one way or the other, and became enveloped with love the moment I heard Going Somewhere. I decided to listen to the full album when I got into Salem, and something about the powerful combination of the music Soup shows here with this album, and the old Salem sights, managed to create an experience that is distilled directly into this record.

The music here is nothing to sleep on. This music is for fans of Crippled Black Phoenix, as, like that band, they combine slow and artistic post rock melodies similar to Sigur Ros and Mogwai, with a flavorful and artistic progressive rock that shows inspiration from groups like Gazpacho and H era Marillion. Personally, I am stunned there aren't more prog bands that take a more post rock approach to their music, because what Soup shows on Remedies is nothing but amazing.

The qualities on this album are just immaculate, with songs that have these boundless, and spatial textures that make me feel both an uplifting amazement, whilst also an immense somber of tranquility. I believe the best post rock, and simultaneously prog rock bands can at least give me both in some regards, and Soup manages to be one of those bands. Seriously, listen to Going Somewhere or Nothing Like Home and you'll be wrapped in a blanket of warm music that both will make you melt, as well as make you feel comfort in life.

The best part of the music, for me, is Ørjan's guitar work. He manages to straddle the line between the tranquility of guitarists like Kjartan Sveinsson, with the eccentricity of someone like Steve Howe in such a way that feels just right, like a very nice and warm meal that isn't too hot or too cold, though on occasion he does crank things up in a particular direction, whether the time calls for it. Like, in some songs he is adding a bit more spice into the dish, creating a blend of flavors that doesn't dampen, nor overwhelm. Best example of that is with Sleepers.

If I could give one single critique on this album, it is the fact that I do not like the track of Audion, however I will actually revoke my critique here as, while I do not like the track, from an artistic and musical standpoint, I believe it is essential, to not only segway into the second half of the album from The Boy And The Snow to Sleepers, but also gives a bit of breathing room to prepare for more music. While I dislike the track, I believe it is needed, and makes for a better listening experience.

I can say with zero regrets that this album is a masterpiece, a very underrated one at that too. I say, if you love bands like Dredg or Crippled Black Phoenix, particularly their albums like El Cielo and White Light Generator, you'll really like this album. I also recommend listening to this album while on an evening walk around your town, as I find this record to have a particular quality when in motion. An atmospheric nostalgia bomb of an album, one that I hope gains more love through the years.

What originally started as a one-man project by Erlend Aastad Viken (vocals, keyboards, guitars) back in 2004 is now very much a full-fledged band with Orjan J Langnes (guitars), Oystein Megard (guitars), Jan Tore Megard (bass) and Espen Berge (drums). They have also been joined here by Giant Sky Orchestra who are Liv Brox (violins), Ivan Ushakov (flutes) and Emil Emilson Holemsland (trumpet). This is Soup's sixth album, and is deemed Crossover Prog by PA, and that is probably the best place for it, while there are no doubts they have been heavily influenced by the slower and more orchestral elements of Radiohead while also containing some of the more pastoral elements of classic Genesis (especially 'Selling England' period). They also bring in some aspects of Sixties psychedelia, and they certainly never sound Norwegian, as they feel British to the core.

The problem with music which contains so much drama and is played often quite slowly, is that if one is not really in the mood then it can just pass the listener by. I must confess I was playing this on headphones and it had finished before I realized I hadn't really heard any of it as I had become distracted by something else and there was just not enough bite anywhere for me to be hooked. I have obviously been playing it more since then, but I do find my thoughts wandering and it is a conscious effort not to lose sight of the music itself, and there is no doubt they are clever at what they do and produce some wondrous soundscapes, yet for me it is just too lethargic. I am sure there are many progheads who will argue this is nothing short of brilliant and it should be in everyone's collection, it is just that I am not one of them.

 

SOUP is the project of Norway's own Erlend Aastad Viken starting out as a one man band and releasing that debut as such before becoming a four piece on the followup album and expanding to a five piece here on album number six. Erlend takes the time here in the liner notes to do a proper thanks as he puts it to the many who have helped along the way. Mentioning the kids in Volda for rooting for the one man band back in 2005. Mentioning Lasse Hoile as a collaborator since Lasse heard the song "My Justine" on MySpace in 2005. He did the cover art here. There's a couple of guests helping out with strings and flute from GIANT SKY a related band. Like the cover art I find the music to be okay, just not my thing overall but I kept thinking the word "interesting". SOUP seems to forge some new territories or at least changes them up enough to make it interesting. Post Rock with the guitars and powerful sections are contrasted with the folky acoustic guitar, piano and fragile vocal sections. The vocals in that mode remind me of Phil Collins and the sound like GENESIS. My favourite sections are those. We do get build ups like Post Rock but these are quicker.

I have a legit copy and the length of this album is 66:19 and the final song almost 34 minutes not 7 1/2 minutes as shown here and mentioned in other reviews. That final track does go silent at 7:23 but it stays that way for 10 minutes before the music returns and man were just getting started. A FLOYD-like section to open "Burning Bridges" but then that GENESIS pastoral soundscape takes over and later a wall of sound like Post-Rock and this track is a good example of what this album is about. The strings are fairly powerful on "Kingdom Of Color" one of my favourites. "Skins Pt. 1" is a short piano piece. More of the pastoral and later wall of sound on "Crystalline" kind of following the example of the opener.

This one got left far behind in the album of the year voting but that is in part because many didn't get a chance to hear it as it was released late in November. Well worth checking out and for many this is SOUP's best album.

Norwegian veterans of 18 years and six albums are back for another shot at increasing their fan base. Having really loved their 2018 release, Remedies, with their great sense of haunting melodies, and then after hearing Eav's AMAZING Giant Sky project's album release from earlier in 2021, I was filled with HIGH hopes for this unexpected windfall.

1. "Burning Bridges" (15:02) a song that really never is given a chance to get going--is stop and go for the whole of its first ten minutes! I don't get it! Not even Radiohead or Sigur Rós can get away with this! And then the final five minutes is just too repetitively monotonous despite all of the creative additions (violins, trumpets, flutes) and reminds me more of an average Post Rock song. (24.5/30)

2. "Crystalline" (7:02) the flutes and picked acoustic guitars in the opening 2:30 is a nice change--more like the Indie- Pop/Prog Folkiness of the Giant Sky album--or even ANATHEMA's albums of the 2010s. The lyrics seem like quite a little lament for the loss of the world as it was before COVID-19. I just wish the chordal structure was a little more interesting, not so endlessly repetitive. (Though, I get the inference that the world is building up to a big crescendo and blow up.) (13/15)

3. "Skins Pt. 1" (1:19) nice little post-apocalyptic, post-civilization piano epitaph. (4.25/5)

4. "Kingdom of Color" (9:11) gently picked acoustic guitar matched up with piano are nice. The heavily-treated vocal is annoying (and totally unnecessary?) Drums, bass, and keys come in giving it even more of an Indie-Pop MICE ON STILTS sound and feel. Later, violins are a very cool addition--and the arrangement for the rest of the band improves nicely. At 4:35 the Post Rock Sigur Rós explosion and Jonsí vocal is unleashed. But then everything just drops away and is replaced by an arpeggiated chord sequence picked nylon string guitar joined by piano, bass & drums, flute, and bright strings. Simple gorgeous! And the dénouement finishes with some gorgeous piano chord play. Definitely the high point of the album. (19/20)

5. "Skins Pts. 2-3" (7:23) begins as if a continuation of the previous song but quickly establishes itself as something totally separate (at least, musically). The loose, almost acoustic instrumental arrangement seems but a haphazard and perhaps unsettling background for Eav's message-filled vocal. (It seems to be about the struggles to maintain mental health and healthy relationships during the fear-filled time of the pandemic.) But then it all coalesces into a beautiful, cohesive whole--as an instrumental. Very Pink Floydian. Nice finish to the album. (13.5/15)

Total Time 39:57

B/a solid four stars; an excellent contribution of melodic prog to the Prog lexicon; strongly recommended.

SOUP has lived since 2004 with its charismatic leader Erlend Viken at the head of the group; an alternative, crossover, extraordinary rock that distills expressive, dynamic and melancholic notes aided by the GIANT SKY Orchestra whose album is just my album of the year for now. This is their 5th production coming out on colorful vinyl, CD, digital and CD / vinyl mix with bonus atmospheric, art rock, post rock and a bit folk tones. The album cover was again created by Lasse Hoile for a unique visual.

5 titles, a blank to hide some bonuses which I won't tell you anything about, yes you have to have the collector's special! Songs that follow one another like a concept album, 'Burning Bridges' spearheading, intimate, a bit of PINK FLOYD and BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST in the distance and a dreamlike post rock maelstrom in the end. The song with a long crescendo that takes you far to the southern lands. 'Crystalline' versus Genesisian at first crystalline, a dark, melancholy and musical light-filled track that becomes languid before launching into a deafening apocalyptic finale, also ideal for testing your speakers. an interlude on the piano to tie up again to the world and the last two titles which bind to each other with beauty from the angels of the north, impressive melancholy spleen with an explosion even more beautiful than what l 'one can find on the old GENESIS, a little didgeridoo after; moments of bucolic sweetness allied to notes of intimacy that make you ... melt, yes you too a reader; the sidereal beauty is here to take you very far and not to make you come back, beware of danger because introspection may overwhelm you with its divine darkness, the price of this listening far from current musical criteria.

SOUP delivered a still perfect album, darker than her earlier year baby Giant Sky; the sound feels simple, almost flat 'to listen to and then intensifies over time and that's what's amazing. I read somewhere the allusion to a jazzy stroll with stressed ENO who mixes and WRIGHT at the controls as supervisor ... SOUP only needs its members to offer you the music of tomorrow, the one that has not. need a musical label but which gives pleasure to the listening time.

If I really have to find a fault on this album, it's that is too short. Even on youtube there are live performance of tracks such as "Memories of an imaginary friend" or "She had set out to find the Sun" that could be magnificent addiction to this great opera. The live execution is flawless and improved without losing any of the magic atmosphere of the studio version. Highly recommended to all the lovers of the most romantic and evocative Post Rock, this album is a full immersion in a parallel dimension soft and wrapping like a dream.

The highlight of the album, OMHO, are the two minutes longer "Clandestine Eyes" with the superb and powerful guitars end and the hypnotic and magic "Sleepers" but, overall it's definitively a full 5 stars and worthy for each seconds of its length.

I must say that I am surprised that this album has had just 25 ratings (one review by PA Collaborator and just 24 ratings). The album was released in 2010 although I didn't discover it until the following year but since then it has remained one of my most listened to albums and is currently number 17 in my all-time list of favourite prog releases. The melodies are varied and exquisite and if I was to level any criticism it would have to be that the album is exclusively melancholic. That is no great criticism though as this is a beautiful double album of 15 tracks, none of which I dislike. The high point of the album is In Memory Of Richard Wright, a tribute to the great Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright. If you feel like checking out the album you could do a lot worse than starting here and if you like it then listen to the rest of the album. It is wonderful, intense and beautiful. Highly recommended.

Great atmospheric rock from Norway with a lot of the mellower PINK FLOYD and PINEAPPLE THIEF feel to it. Comparisons to MIDLAKE and AUTUMN CHORUS are also warranted.

1. "Going Somewhere" (8:13) strummed folk-rock acoustic guitar opens before vocal and second electric guitar join in. Synths and other keys join in at 1:20 as singing stops. Nice effect. The next verse opens up feeling quite light and indie-pop bouncy--not unlike MEW. When the chorus finally hits at the three minute mark the keys rejoin in full force giving the aural palette a bit of a muddy feel. Luckily, the lyric and other instruments remain clear and distinctive so it must just be the keys. The long instrumental mid-section is interesting for the fact that it's really the whole band exploring an extended variation of chord progressions. The effected piano ending is a cool effect. A nice extended indie-pop song. (8.5/10)

2. "The Boy And The Snow" (11:32) gorgeous and relaxing, dreamy, maybe even trance-inducing like a spacey PINK FLOYD song ("Us and Them" comes to mind--though this song is nothing like it). A wonderful aural-induced experience. Even the Post Rock-like build up in the tenth minute is magical. (9/10)

3. "Audion" (2:07) solo church organ practice. (4/5)

4. "Sleepers" (13:35) repeating solo guitar arpeggio is sung over in a high, gentle voice before electric piano joins in. This opne reminds me a lot of the title song from MIDLAKE's last release, Antiphon. "Flute" and bass enter in the third minute's interlude between verses. Cool Richard Wright-like synth solo in the fifth minute. A shift in the music at the end of the fifth minute lets bass and drums take the fore in a kind of OMD "Julia's Song" way as gentle, spacious chords and arpeggi from electric piano and guitar, respectively, play behind. Cool solo in the seventh minute--either from keyboard or heavily treated guitar (I'm betting on the latter). This gets extended while band jams and spacey keyboard sounds enter and "solo" as well. By the end of the ninth minute it's really thick--just as everything cuts out for a few seconds. Bass and lite drums re-establish their groove while APP-like guitars and synths gently fill the spacious foreground until 9:50 when everything cuts out again. Emerging from the back a heavier, more insistent Post Rock-like weave re-enters with the drums and lead guitars playing much more aggressively that before. Then there is yet another cut out at 11:07, which is eventually filled by some industrial sounding synth loop. Slight electronic variations and plays with volume are explored in subtle ways from here to the song's end. Easily the best song on the album. (9.5/10)

5. "Nothing Like Home" (6:43) plays out as a kind of quiet straightforward prog folk song with gentle, reverbed ROBBIE LLOYD-WILSON (AUTUMN CHORUS) or MIDLAKE-like vocal with little flash though plenty of subtleties along the way. Nice JAMES-BLAKE-like effects used on the vocals. Solid. (8.5/10)

4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of beautiful Folk- and Post Rock-tinged progressive rock music.

Even though that Andalusian delicacy gazpacho is called a chilled soup, it does not mean that Norway can claim that prog bands Gazpacho and Soup both taste the same. This Soup is somewhat more ardent and fiery and is best served piping hot. The propensity for grandiose and sweeping melodies is such that I am reminded of more of recent Anathema, not the easiest task as lead lung Vince Cavanaugh can bellow and croon with the best of them. But Soup's vocalist Erlend Viken is awe inspiring, daring to enter fellow Norwegian Morten Harket territory (Yes, the Aha guy, but what a voice, phew! That proggy electropop sensation had their two first albums cause quite a sensation). This is my first foray into this mysterious band, a crew that just may elevate itself to the loftiest prog throne, its craft exquisitely honed and sculpted to perfection. The songs start out like a cold dewy morning, waiting for the sunlight to pierce through the clouds and explosively symphonise the arrangement with sweeping crescendos of sheer musical delight, giving the arrangements a nearly operatic sheen. As the title might lead you to believe this is all about nostalgia, of times gone by with shimmering memories left behind as comfortable reminders, certainly a notion I admire and deeply enjoy. Also very romantic music, indeed.

Comparisons to above mentioned Anathema, as well as Muse or even Coldplay are perhaps accurate but truth is that Soup forges its own style, a rare combination of accessible yet romantic, spirit-driven and intense stories. Vocalist Viken also provides massive amounts of piano (always a good sign), solid rhythm section that pulses when needed as both Jan Tore Megard and Thomas Nyborg seem totally inspired, while guitarist Orjan Langnes provides wall of sound textures that serve to heighten the pleasure. This becomes apparent on the enigmatic opener "The Spirit Lodge", an upward spiraling melody, a distinctive cello grooving along classically and providing the impetus for the celestial choir that highlights the song. The apotheosis is reached and then the afterglow kicks in, a very sexually intense demeanor that bodes well for the remaining tracks. "Our Common Ground" is more conventional from the get-go, certainly poppier in spirit, heavier in scope and denser in sound. Bassist Megard carves deep furrows on which massive strings engulf the arrangement, though through all this thunder, the voice travels between tender and explosive, even when the solemn piano sits in the spotlight alone to send this one into the night.

Piano is again the lead for the ballad "This Place is a Dream", strings heightening the vocal panorama, as another wall of sound crescendo comes shining through the clouds. The three-pronged melody is drenched in classicism with plenty of opaque choir work (both synthetic and organic), the glittering piano being the obvious shepherd into the segue piece "Transient Days", full of rumination and souvenir, of a time effectively gone by and relevant only to those who prefer to think and inquire about the future. Powerfully intransigent.

But the next four pieces should really provide the corner stones for this release, being firstly longer pieces (6:41 to 8:13) and thus with more oomph, lasting effect and omnipresence. It will turn out to be a mixed bag, though. First up is "Memoirs of an Imagination", Viken's expressive voice slowly exalting towards some distant star up there in the galactic sky. The Anathema-styled chord progression on the chorus is evident and convincing, while the piano work settles the dust only to elevate the melody once again. All of course bathing in the trembling guitar and keyboard symphonics.

But "Loralynn and the River Lady" has softer child-like tones, haunting and hushed voice adding tons of effect and hue. But halfway through, the piece suddenly plods rather loudly and fails to impress in the more explosive final moments. The explosion is muddy and disorderly, in-distinctive and thus unappealing. I even caught myself cringing slightly (something I only do when someone accidentally mentions my ex-wife) which is not a prog pleasure principle at all.

Thankfully "Clandestine Days" makes up for it in spades, being the most involved track here by far, deeply melancholic and emboldened by a refined melody, unassuming drums and a gloriously high- pitched vocal. This is Soup at its finest, clanging web-like guitar with a morose bass solo and uncomplicated drum escort. Definitely an Anathema feel, complete with the powerful chorus, as Viken howls like a delirious wolf glaring at the moon. This is utterly spectacular, no two ways about it!

The splendid finale "A Life Well Lived" immediately focuses on the profoundly nostalgic lyrics, just grand piano as a foil, and thankfully embedded with a lovely European styled melody. The build-up is deliberate but focused, attention to detail as well as emotional impact being the norm, serenely expanding in vivacity, until the chorus becomes almost unbearably celestial, guitar screaming through the pale. Another winner!

Fans of Anathema, Pineapple Thief and Gazpacho (to a certain extent only) will enjoy this recording.

4 teenage reminiscences

The strength of material released in 2013 is continuing to astound me. From established bands to artists that are suddenly coming out of the woodwork, this year will be remembered as an incredible year. Case in point: the new album from Norway's Soup. Attracted as I was to the cover art and general tone of the album, I was excited after I heard "The Beauty of our Youth".

Soup have a certain amount of familiarity about them, but they still have their own sound. They remind me of a mix between Anathema and The Pineapple Thief, but that doesn't quite cover it, either. They feature climactic melodic progression similar to Anathema, but also a grounded rustic quality like that of The Pineapple Thief. Add to that a bit of Muse, a slight indie influence, and a talented violinist, and you will start to get a picture of how this album sounds. Melodious, soaring, upbeat, orchestral, and magical at times, Soup's third album leaves quite an impression both musically and lyrically.

I was immediately taken with the nostalgic ambiance throughout "The Beauty of our Youth". If it weren't already apparent by the title, I think nostalgia was the very point of this work. Youth really is like a dream. I can remember the "good old days", and somehow I forget all the bad times. This album is a tribute to those memories.

Soup has quite a way of incorporating these glorious feelings into their music through ascending melodies and even group singing. This is especially apparent on "Transient Days". Other favorite tracks include "Our Common Ground" with its excellent violin lines, and the wistful "Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend". Every song, however, is strong and provokes emotion, at least for those of us that want to reach out and remember better days. I'm really thankful for this glorious new release from Soup, and I really wish them the best for future endeavors into progressive music.