Weserbergland: Am Ende der Welt

It is time for another challenging listen. This time the focus is on Norwegian multi-instrumentalist/composer Ketil Vestrum Einarsen, a mainstay in the progressive rock band White Willow the last twenty years as well as contributing to other bands like Motorpsycho, Jaga Jazzist, Panzerpappa, and Kaukasus. He formed the project Weserbergland in 2017, initially as an outlet for his love of Krautrock. The band’s debut Sehr Kosmich Ganz Progisch was released in 2017, followed by Am Ende der Welt in 2020. Playing on the album are:

Ketil Vestrum Einarsen (computer)
Gaute Storsve (guitar)
Jan Terje Augestad (piano)
Jørgen Mathisen (sax)
Maria Grigoryeva (violin)
Molesome (turntables)

This disc is a single track, almost forty-three minutes in length, and the band use this time to create one of the more unusual platters of music I have heard in recent memory. Here, the progressive genre is blurred between electronic, Krautrock, drone music, experimental/avant-garde and other forms I have yet to latch on to. The music is sometimes mellow and subdued, as demonstrated in the track’s initial few minutes as gentle violin and piano compete with shimmering drones and melancholic pulsating computer sounds. The music builds as denser textures are added and synthetic drums gives everything a jolt of heaviness. The mellowness returns and builds again into a cacophony of sounds, the dense soundscapes returning. At times the music is so dense it is near impossible to peel back the layers, but this only adds to the band’s mysterious nature. The way Einarsen is able to manipulate various sounds is a testament to his artistry as a musician and his knowledge of the technology he uses.

This may not be the most immediate listen and it does take some effort, for me at least, but the creativity and unorthodox approach to progressive forms is much appreciated. Recommended.

An Apollon Records release.

Track Listing:
1. Am Ende der Welt (42:38)

Added: February 24th 2022
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 545
Language: english

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