UNSEEN COLOR

For better or worse, some records leave me scratching my head. Unseen Color, the sophomore LP by Norwegian prog rockers Maraton, is one of those. On paper, the album has everything I love in modern progressive rock: intricate, driving rhythms, awesome vocals, a strong focus on melody, an exciting blending of diverse influences, and enough display of virtuoso playing to appeal to my musical nerdiness. Yet, despite listening to the album multiple times, I find myself struggling to connect with it and ? what's worst ? I do not manage to remain interested and focused for the record's whole duration (and we're talking of less than 50 minutes). So, what's going on? Has my musical brain gone haywire? Is my love for prog rock slowly fading away? Am I getting old? Let's find out.

In the PR blurb, the Norwegians present themselves as an alternative rock combo who love experimenting with diverse influences, from progressive rock to electronica to pop music. It's a fitting description. Unseen Color blends the rhythmical and structural intricacies of prog rock with plenty of alternative rock energy and poppy melodic hooks. Funky bass grooves, electronic beats and high-octane drum patterns lay the songs' foundations, with the guitar and keyboards adding bursts of color, while Fredrik Bergersen Klemp's vocals oscillate between deep, velvety crooning and heartbreaking falsettos. The result is a chiaroscuro of complexity and accessibility, energy and melancholy, heaviness and melody, which chimes in with other recent modern prog rock/metal productions by bands like Leprous, Port Noir, Oak and Meer ? all bands who have trodden similar paths as Maraton lately in trying to break boundaries between genres and create new musical hybrids. And here lies the first problem I have with Unseen Color. The album feels a bit too close for comfort to these other bands. The similitude between Fredrik Bergersen Klemp's and Einar Solberg's voices is uncanny, which inevitably forces one to draw comparison between this album and masterpieces like Leprous' Pitfalls and Aphelion. The prominent dark electronica influences immediately evoke Port Noir's recent LPs The New Routine and Cuts. The lush atmospheres, delicate piano musings, and poppy melodies point to Oak and Meer. These are all albums and bands I love, so on first impact Unseen Color got me really excited. But in the long run these similarities become too obvious and make the album somewhat less compelling, also because overall it does not really stack up against the sheer awesomeness of some of those other records.

Which brings me to my second point: after a mightily strong start ("In Syzygy"), Unseen Color slowly but steadily descends into averageness with the following 6 tracks. Don't get me wrong: there is plenty of little interesting moments in the songs that run between "Contranym" and "Imitation Flesh". For example, I dig the interesting 1980s Depeche Mode vibes on "Non-Euclidean Heats", the mean electronic beats that close "Perdurant Lives", the moody bass solo in "Odradek", or the hints of Radiohead emerging in "Boltzmann Brain" and "Imitation Flesh". But these sound snippets are just not enough to make for compelling tunes that I can enjoy from start to finish. I cannot quite put the finger on what rubs me wrong, but it is a combination of somewhat dull melodies, slightly formulaic songwriting (it's hard to shake off the impression that we are listening to variations of the same song between "Contranym" and "Imitation Flesh"), and ? as we go through jarring transitions from moody sections to bright, poppy choruses ("Blind Sight") ? the unsettling feeling that the blending of different genres is not quite as smooth as the band envisaged it, after all.

Fortunately the album closes with two songs that are much stronger than most of the preceding material. "A Body of Your Own" and the title-track embrace the combination of orchestral pop and prog rock that Leprous have been pioneering with their last couple of albums. These two songs move beautifully between lush string arrangements, gentle piano sections and more metallic parts, creating dramatic dynamics that keep the listener fully involved. In all honesty, I cannot help but get again the nagging feeling that Maraton are moving a bit too close to their influences (Leprous, in this case) to make for a compelling listening, but at least these two songs are sufficiently captivating to motivate me to revisit them, which is not the case for the middle part of the album.

Alas, a strong beginning and a good closing are not enough to fully redeem Unseen Color. It is not without frustration that I conclude this review, because Maraton are undoubtedly a talented bunch. Ruben Aksnes writes some killer bass grooves which Frank Nordeng Røe complements satisfyingly with his nervous but nimble drumming. Simen Hundere Ruud and Magnus Johansen provide some tasteful guitar and keys arrangements. And then there is Fredrik Bergersen Klemp's beautiful voice that can easily compete with the likes of Einar Solberg in terms of range and interpretation. For this reason, I am not ready to give up on Maraton yet. The talent is there, and I will be looking forward to their next steps to see if they can eventually find a way to channel it into a fully convincing set of songs.

[Originally written for The Metal Observer]