Label : Svart Records
Review by Matteo Bussotti
Coming from Trondheim, Norway, High Priest of Saturn take inspiration from stoner and 60s-70s psychedelic rock. All this is made by only 3 musicians, Merethe Heggset (Bass Guitar and Voice), Martin Sivertsen (Guitar), Andreas Hagen (Guitar and Drums), and the result is quite pleasing, even if it’s not perfect. The first resemblance which popped up in my head was with The Flaming Lips‘ latest album, “The Terror”: atmospheric music and eerie, low (in volume) vocals. And this is pretty much the whole album.
Each one of the songs (or should I define them “Musical experiences”) is based on this simple formula…but, sincerely, they kinda sound the same to me. This album would be perfect to be listened as a whole with eyes closed, isolated from the outer world, in complete relax. It’s kind of a trip…and I think this means they reached their goal when they decided to take inspiration from psychedelic rock.
Also the songs, listened singularly, are great for brief (even though their no shorter than 9 minutes) moments of relax, or when you need some atmosphere in what you’re doing. The problem begins in the moment you start analyzing the songs, and you find out they’re really too similar. Too similar. It’s a complete shame, because I was so raptured in their sound by their first song, that finding out the other songs were very similar kinda turned me off completely. On the other hand, I can’t stop praising their sound, which is very unique. High Priest of Saturn are a very valid band, which I’m sure will put out a masterpiece, sooner or later. They just need to develop their sound in terms of differentiation, and then we’ll have a really enthralling CD, really worth listening to until it melts in your CD player.
Rating – 70/100
Tracklist
- Protean Towers
- Kraken Mare
- Crawling King Snake
- On Mayda Insula
Line Up
- Merethe Heggset -Vocals & Bass
- Martin Sivertsen – Guitar
- Andreas Hagen – Guitar & Drums