Search - Isildurs Bane :: Sea Reflections/Eight Moments of Eternity

Jazz?Rock?Jazz-rock.

bromlow callow | england,uk | 06/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Very few bands seem to bring together so many different styles of music as Isildurs Bane.It can often be almost impossible to categorise them without sounding trite.These two albums on one CD,from 1985 and 1987,can be classed as progressive rock but such a description hardly seems to do them justice.Certainly there are many rock elements here,in composition and instrumentation,but the jazz and classical influences are also present.Almost all the music is written by keyboard player Mats Johansson who seems to have a inexhaustable fund of ideas;he writes most of the tracks on their other albums too so far as I'm aware.The nearest reference point I can offer here by means of comparison would be the Canterbury band National Health but Isildurs Bane go in for much less improv and jamming and keep everything much tighter.The melodies and harmonies are very imaginative and reveal their subtleties slowly,as the best music of this kind should.Stand-out tracks are Blizzard with its infectious syncopations,Sea Reflections with a killer of an opening tune/riff,Ben-Oni with its brass flourishes and the mysterious In the Same Class with an unexpected eerie ending.The musicianship and production are top-notch.Skilful,imaginative and rewarding music."