Pågå : "the Evil Year"

In Solitude was one of my favorite bands. Many of the members have gone onto to work in other projects, but I was still wondering what Pelle the singer was doing. This answers that question. Flying under the banner of post -punk I think that is a misnomer , the closest we get is Current 93 and Psychic TV,  but even those bands I would not describe as post-punk.It is by and large dark and I like that !  Pelle sounds really different. He has backed off alot and singing in a more  Adrian Belew like voice.  There is a weird flow of congas under neath the song, which is not the kind of precussive element you would expect. There is a jammy abstract feel to things. It does havea groove that lures you in.  We are into some zany art funk with King Crimson like guitar on the second song. It is more of a solid rock song than the more ambiant opening track.

The third song is more of an atmospheric interlude, then they return with a more Nick Cave feel to "Wholly Gone" .But it never really goes anywhere. They get progressively darker on "Wet Star" but there is not a solid melody or groove to the song, so it works more like the soundtrack to a dream.  Midway into the song it begins to remind me of the Doors a little which is a good thing. This is also the first song to feature more metal like guitar chords. The song after this one is another instrumental interlude, but I like this one better as it is darker . Hearing Pelle sing over an acoustic guitar is different. He is also singing much differently though closer to what he used to than some of the previous songs. You can hear a little more of his range and how he has matured as a singer. A folk song is not what I expected but it is well done.

There is yet another instrumental interlude that might not be heavy in the metal sense but things to get more brooding using sampled choral vocals . The last song is kind of um...Beatles like. I am glad to hear his expansive voice but it is happier than I signed on for . This album is a sucess as it does what they set out to do. There s nothing in the way actual metal on tis album, which should come as no surprised for if In Solitude has released another album I doubt it would have been metal. This is nothing like I expected but I will give this album a 9. Not as good as In Solitude, but better in it's own ways at what it does.