PÅ STERKE VINGER

Høst came from the small town of Knapstad in Norway, originally formed in 1971 by guitarist/songwriter Svein Rønning, bassist Johnny Myhre and drummer Stig Berg.Myhre left the group at its early days and three new members joined, Bernt Bodahl (bass), Ronny Gyllensten (guitars) and Geir Jahren (vocals).In 1973 the band started gaining fame through local live gigs, but again two line-up changes occured, Berg and Gyllensten left and were replaced by Knut R. Lie and Odd Inge Olsen respectively, tha last one replaced by Lasse Nilsen just before the group entered the studio for the first time.At the fall of 74' the group recorded its debut ''Pa sterke vinger'' at Arctic Studios in Trondheim, released on the On label.

With two guitarist in the line-up the sound of Høst was built around the twin guitar leads of Rønning and Nilsen, while their style drew influences from British Hard Prog and Progressive Rock with a bit of a Scandinavian character on the poetic Norwegian vocals.To my ears the group sounds a lot like BLACK SABBATH jamming with KAIPA and THIN LIZZY.The tracks are not very complex, featuring extended guitar leads with some nice solos, measured organ and piano parts, while the good vocals of Jahren are also a basic component of the group's sound.The structures are rather simplistic with standard choruses, yet the overall approach is quite irritating with changing guitar themes and some good alternating tempos.The long eponymous closer is another story.Clocking at 10 minutes this composition is based on the shifting changes between melodic guitar parts ala KERRS PINK, poetic vocals in the vein of KAIPA and more doomy explorations in the vein of BLACK SABBATH.There are also some nice bass lines to be found around the middle, the presence of keyboards remains rather discreet, while the epic multi-vocal choirs at the end are pretty exciting.

The album has been reissue on CD by Pan Records, so anyone can listen to this work, which sounds sometimes close to the Proto-Metal sound of SCORPIONS.Nice and recommended effort.