IGNIS FATUUS

They got the hand of their fellow Norwegian comrades in the form of White Willow. The music played is not as complex as most of their Sweden counterparts (the usual suspects): they have incorporated some fine and folkish influences which gives a special character to this album.

The first two songs are particularly interesting. Snowfall for instance is a sweet complaint full of acoustic glory, but whose sung parts are too mellow to my taste. But this might well be a general remark. Fortunately, some mellotron, guitar and good fluting are putting these vocals in the back of my head. Same applies to Lord Of Night. To be concise, I would just say that one has the impression to listen to some sort of Trespass counterpart. But I like this album very much, so.

But from then on, the quality is decreasing seriously with the short Song (the weakest of all) as well as with the peaceful and tranquil Ingenting.

The band catches up again with better inspiration, good fluting and fine symphonic passages (The Withering of the Boughs or Lines On An Automnal Evening). Still, I am not convinced with the female vocals during the fully Trespass-esque again Now in these Fairy Lands. The work on the synthesizer is very pleasant and compensates the relative weakness of the vocals again.

For a change, Cryptomenysis has a definite Crimson edge. But this track remains symphonic, and the darker and repetitive mood adds some new angle to the music proposed on this album. Fine violin is an add-on here as well. It is one of the best track from Ignis Fatuus although the closing part is longish. The closing number John Dees Lament which clocks at eleven minutes is almost a carbon copy of Cryptomenysis.

In all, this is a pleasant and mostly pastoral album which would have gained being a bit shorter (the small pieces could have been dropped IMO). It also lacks of variety and is too much focused on the Trespass atmospheres with some KC input towards the end. Somewhat derivative at the end of the day.

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