SEVEN IMPALE – Summit
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It’s been seven years since the last sign of life from Seven Impale, but now the Norwegian sextet is finally back with their third longplayer Summit, continuing to refine their very own brand of jazz, progressive and heavy rock. Unlike its long predecessor that made it well over an hour, we get this time only four tracks, although they all have generous lengths of ten minutes or more. The opener Hunter starts with a one-minute piano intro building up to a doomy riff carried by the saxophone, reminding of early King Crimson. The vocals sound like an incantation, and the general slow pace of the music draws parallels to Black Sabbath, although instead of heavy guitar riffs, we get a threatening saxophone and a distorted bass guitar. The middle part is fiercer with free jazz impulses before the final section adds a chugging guitar and the dark yet festive chorus. The following Hydra is a little tamer, but convinces with strange and unexpected chord progressions, emphasising more the band’s proggy jazz than its heavy rocking side. Ikaros, the pre-released single is at nine and a half minutes the only track below the ten-minute mark and also the album’s heaviest track. Of course the saxophone still manages to infuse jazz elements, although there is also an undeniable nineties grunge flair. The concluding Sisyphus makes it to a little over thirteen minutes and shows off all the different aspects that Seven Impale are made of. I won’t go too much into detailing each and every movement of the songs, but suggest you spend some hours with Summit, because it takes more than a few run-throughs to unravel all of the album’s secrets. Seven Impale are a sextet, and as such they come with a very full and often quite dense sound. And yet I have the impression that this time they managed to allow their songs more breathing space, making for an airier listening experience. This also makes the different tracks more memorable, and should appeal mostly to fans of early King Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator, two progressive rock bands who put a lot of emphasis on the saxophone. The heavy rock parts give the band a grittiness that works surprisingly well with the jazz and prog elements. I dare say that Summit is the Norwegian band’s best effort so far. |
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4 songs |
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43:56 minutes |
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***** **** |
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Genre: heavy progressive jazz rock Label: Karisma |
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