CONFLICTS

TAMMATOYS is another band from Norway totally new to me which has offered a new challenging album in 2020. But they aren't newcomer at alI in a strict sense, since already founded about 20 years ago. In the early years the crew could record two EP's, but then went on a long hiatus. Now Kjetil Bergseth and Øystein Utby are back again with an updated line up consisting of six musicians. What is a bit unusual somehow, besides bass player Utby they are having three regular guitarists aboard actually. Plus lead singer and keyboarder Bergseth, who handles the acoustic version on top of that. Therefore, in the consequence, one might expect a guitar dominated output for sure. Though it's all nicely balanced, due to diverse mellotron respectively synthesizer layers. Oftenly coming close to orchestral strings, as for that a strong symphonic respectively neo progressive orientation is to state.

The usage of diverse samples comes as another band trademark then. And some typical nordic melancholy won't be missed too. Just a side note, the vocals are not the strongest point on this occasion. Outstanding tracks are the cinematic title track and Downfall, both at, respectively beyond the 10 minutes playing time. The latter telling an accusative story which is dealing with the usage of military drones. I would say their music evolves based on diverse influences coming from such prog flagships like Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis and Porcupine Tree. No problem, as long as it is not a simple copy-cat case. And when the compositions are able to convince, are showcasing a unique band flavour in one way or another. It definitely is a worthwhile attempt to check this. 3.5 stars on the PA scale.