Shamblemaths "Shamblemaths 2"

Country: Norway
Genre(s): Retro Prog
Label: Apollon Records Prog
Format: CD, digital, vinyl
Release date: October 22, 2021
Tracklist

1. Måneskygge (1:05) 

2. Knucklecog (9:56) 

3. D.S.C.H. (Op. 110 String Quartet no. 8 in C minor, mvts. 1 and 2) Imaginary Friend (6:24) 

4. Lat Kvar Jordisk Skapning Teia Pts. 1-4. (6:37) 

5. Lat Kvar Jordisk Skapning Teia Pt. 5 (5:38) 

6. Lat Kvar Jordisk Skapning Teia Pts. 6-8 (3:43) 

7. Lat Kvar Jordisk Skapning Teia Pt 9 Mørker vik på all Hans veg (2:18) 

8. Been And Gone (2:13) 

9. This River (9:04) 

Total Time 46:58

Line-up

Simen Å. Ellingsen: soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, electric and acoustic guitars, soprano recorder, tin whistle, vocals, chant, whispers, sax samples, occasional keyboards

Ingvald A. Vassbø: drums, xylophone

  With

Eskild Myrvoll (Kanaan): bass guitar

Paolo Botta (Ske, Yugen, Not a Good Sign): keyboards (4,5,6)

Eirik Ø. Dischler: keyboards (2,3,9)

Marianne Lønstad: vocals (2,9)

Anna Gaustad Nistad: vocals (4,6)

Pia M. Samset: vocals (3,5)

Leon Li: bassoon (4,6)

Eivor Å. Ellingsen (age 6): vocals (7)

Michael Francis Duch: double bass (7,8)

Morten A. Nome: double bass (1)

Ask Vatn Strøm: guitar cameo (6)

15 seconds of track 6 performed by Kanaan

Description/Reviews:

A blatant and unabashed throwback to the golden days of 70s prog, Shamblemaths will enthuse the connoisseur of complexity, and drive most others to outrage or silent sobs. Part humorous, part serious, all wonky, self-important and rampantly anglophile! Their second album is darker, heavier, knottier, yet more fragile and vulnerable. Some might call it a change of direction, but then Shamblemaths never had a direction to begin with. The album is like a picture with many shades, but all from a common, dark palette. There is anger and despair, quiet melancholy and faint embers of hope. In sound and instrumentation they remain in some will call the retro-prog landscape. Here are heavy numbers, reinterpretations of a 20th century string quartet and an ancient hymn, and contemporary classical moments. Yet all the components are chosen and constructed to form a coherent album which is more than a collection of tunes.

Media/Samples
Bandcamp (from release date)

Links:
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Proggnosis

Shamblemaths "Shamblemaths"

Country: Norway
Genre(s): Progressive Rock
Format: CD, digital
Release date: March 15, 2016
Tracklist: 
1. Conglomeration (Or: The Grand Pathetic Suite) (26:54)
     a) Bloody Racket
     b) Your Silly Stare
     c) A Mockery in the Making
     d) The Different Tastes of Sick
     e) A Mockery Well Made
     f) Life Is Tough (When You're Me)
     g) Saucy Tiara Woman!
     h) Another Pear of Ice
     i) Con-girl Omen Ratio 1
     j) Overture
2. A Failing Ember (9:26)
     a) Never Innocent Again
     b) The Winding Stair
     c) Three Flowers
     d) Deus Caritatis
3. Stalker (19:52)
     a) Stalker begins
     b) Bad Conscience Underneath Your Gown
     c) Stalker: Persistance
     d) Stalker’s Lullaby
     e) Stalker: The Harrowing
     f) Stalker: Inevitable Anticlimax and Fade-Out

Total time 56:12

Line-up: 
Simen Ådnøy Ellingsen: Electric, acoustic and Spanish guitar, alto, soprano and baritone saxophones, vocals, zither, jaw harp, percussion, occasional keyboards, sundry implements.
Eirik Mathias Husum: Bass guitar
   With
Eirik Øverland Dischler: Keyboards
Jon Even Schärer: Drums
Halvor Lund: Hammond organ
Colin Howarth: Tenor sax solo (3c & 3d)
Karl Yngve Lervåg & Helene Hesselberg Rendal: Choir (1a, 1j)
Marit Høye Ådnøy: Vocals (3a)
Jan Røу: Guitar parts (3b)
Eivor Ådnøy Ellingsen: Baby vocals (2e)

Description/Reviews: 

The music combines elements of rock (some of it heavy, all of it quirky), jazz and the neo-classical, with lots for the brain and some for the heart, too. Thundering bass grooves over odd chops support fiddly guitar work and saxophones, with some vocals thrown in for good measure with lyrics worth savouring. That's a viable description of Shamblemath's music, yet the opposite probably is as well.
Opening track «Conglomeration» is, as the title indicates, comprised of a number of parts. But listen carefully, and you will discover recurring themes and motifs throughout its 28 minute duration. Rampant anglophilia is evident in the quirky lyrics which, perhaps ill-advisedly, are not above a pun or two.
Second cut «A Failing Ember» is with its mere 9-and-a-bit minutes of positively pop-esque duration, yet is guaranteed to evade all and every hit chart the world over. Thematically more serious, «Ember» is still pompous, self-important and dissonant enough to repel the masses, leaving room for the few (if any) remaining listeners to let the arms flail (should they wish to do such a thing).
«Stalker» is the 19 minute finale whose composition has been ongoing for more than a decade. Themes weave in and out in a composition perhaps slightly less frantic than the previous two, carrying and conveying a teeth gnashing story of guilt trips and unrequited obsession. The persevering listener can finally enjoy some much desired silence as the album ebbs out to the sound Stalker's own anticlimax and fade-out.

Media/Samples 
Stream 1
Stream 2