Mattias Olsson has made a name for himself for doing projects and in bands such as; Anima Morte, Necromonkey, The Opium Cartel, White Willow, Molesome, Isobar, and of course Anglagard. He has this track record that shows that he doesn’t go to any stop sign and wait for others, he keeps the engine’s running when it comes to his musical background in the history of the progressive rock movement.
Kay Olsen, a multi-instrumentalist who is the new to the bandwagon of the genre in the heart of Norway, is about to burst through the floodgates with his creative project called Agropelter. Following in the footsteps of Genesis, King Crimson, Eloy, Vangelis, classical music, and Terje Rypdal, Agropelter’s music is like a bat out of hell, waiting to be unleashed like a volcanic eruption waiting to happen.
Their debut on Ken Golden’s label, The Laser’s Edge, entitled The Book of Hours, is the imaginative movie we’ve been waiting for. And with help from Jacob Holm-Lupo who is Mattias’ partner-in-crime, handling the mixing and mastering behind the debut, it proves how much the brotherhood between those two go way, way back. Alongside Mattias and Kay, there’s also bassist Jonas Reingold, and Andreas Sjøen on drums.
So, you get the general idea on what’s about to happen, top to bottom. From the moment the rain effects and the sound of the flute comes marching in the storm to hit, you can expect a gloomy turned mystical acoustic-mellotron approach on the ‘Flute of Peril’.
You can feel the synthesizers and epic-like orientated guitars, tubular bells, and mournful textures filling the void. There’s something about that track which brings to mind the opening introduction behind Elton John’s ‘Funeral for a Friend’ and Rick Wakeman’s King Arthur-era before it segues into a deep, dark, and sinister ‘80s-like sound behind ‘Levitator’.
Right from the beginning, the Goblin-sque arrangements just burst through the floodgates as Olsen marches through the town with his instruments with the robotic themes as it goes into this film-noir approach which speaks of the Bob Hoskins film The Long Good Friday starring Helen Mirren and a young Pierce Bronsan. These are all the strange meditated guidance Kay would give his fellow comrades on where to go and how he wants them to approach his arrangements when they get to the holy land.
As we reach the ‘Burial Mound’, it features this cymbal turned drum improv from Andreas whilst Reingold’s fretless bass sets up the sun rising towards the west with its uplifting composition that captures the spirit of Jaco Pastorius. There is the nod towards Rypdal’s arrangements, followed by a haunting Monk choir flown into the mix. I mean, how proggy can you get? Total prog that’ll knock your socks off.
Now, we come to the closing four-part title track. Starting off with a concerto-piano introduction, we feel that we have reached the mountain top. But it is far from over for what Agropelter are about to do next. The galloping riffs and fiery guitar improvisations make it a climatic battle for what the danger’s about to unfold before the rain starts to pour down on the members as they cool off.
You can hear the inspirations of Keith Emerson, Tony Banks, George Gershwin, its all there, this is Agropelter’s answer to ‘Rhapsody in Blue’. We all know the love of Genesis from the Selling England-era is in there, but you can’t deny the love of Jazz Fusion that comes into the play. I always wonder if Olsson and Sjøen were listening to The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report to embrace the challenges that await them.
But what’s this? Is this a direct change? No. The piano and synths blend in this science-fiction atmosphere which would have made Vangelis very proud to see this band honor his legacy as they made a continuation on where he had left off from the recording sessions for Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
When I say they honour Vangelis, they honour him very well. He was more than just a founder of Aphrodite’s Child, but taking the ambient and new age approach to this whole other scale as the thumping synths and rising melody come out of the sky, clearing those dark, grey clouds into orbit as we see our first glimpse of the sun approach for a brand-new day to begin.
Once the new age dives down into the city, you know something’s cooking with its Agitation Free approach for a brief moment as the guitar solo kicks in, adding enough fireworks for the keyboards to send shivers down your spine. Not to mention the medieval suite that flows in the final section of piece. Did someone say Gentle Giant references? Possibly.
Quite the journey this is, but The Book of Hours is a realisation that Agropelter are here to stay and they are keeping the genre up and running with more train tracks approaching to see where their next adventure will lead them to.
