Agropelter – The Book of Hours

Normally I'm not a big fan of purely instrumental music and so the same goes for prog. I miss the vocals and lyrics that should form the overall picture for me and of course the interaction with the instrumental pieces. Of course, that doesn't mean that some good  instrumental albums haven't been made. My CD collection also shows that I have no preference for prog from Scandinavia, with exceptions of course.

Given the above, my expectations regarding the album The Book of Hours by the Norwegian Agropelter were not too high. Well, I can already reveal that this was quite an error of judgment.

The Agropelter is a mythical creature that is said to inhabit the hollow trees of the conifer woods. They are said to throw branches down at unsuspecting travellers. A great name for a prog band, isn’t it?

The big man behind this project is Kay Olsen who is responsible for all compositions and is a truly masterful musician on both keyboards and guitar. He also plays some bass guitar and this instrument has a prominent role, there are a two wonderful solos. Yet Agropelter is not a one-man project, there are several other musicians involved, some of whom are certainly no strangers. Jonas Reingold plays the aforementioned solos on his fretless bass and Andreas Skorpe Sjoen provides a rock-solid foundation on drums. The overall orchestral atmosphere is provided by various guest musicians on various wind instruments (thank god, no saxophone), and Jordi Castella plays several passages on grand piano. If we look further, it turns out that Mattias Olsson is responsible for additional overdubs and atmospheres, but also mellotron contributions.

There are actually seven tracks on the album, four of which together form the epic The Book of Hours, which is the heart of the album with over thirty-three minutes of playing time. We open with the short Flute of Peril with, you guessed it, lots of flutes and a delicious little guitar solo on a bed of keys. That's how you want to start an album and when Levitator shows in just six minutes how well Agropelter's music is put together, my enthusiasm is already growing. Kay is a really good guitarist and the many keys sound full and revive old times. I really do miss the vocals but remain fascinated by the music and that doesn't change because Burial Mound is quite short but thrives on one of the already mentioned bass solos by Reingold and that he can really play is no secret. Still, the main program is yet to come and that really is a feast. Everything that makes prog so beautiful passes by, okay except for the vocals, from church organs to jubilant solos on keys and guitar. Olson’s style is sometimes close to Alan Holdsworth but less jazzy, and has a clear prog signature too. There also are some beautiful subdued pieces with spooky atmospheres here and there with even a Harpischord played by Eli Mine in part four and the grand piano parts are of a really high level and the already mentioned church organ parts are quite impressive too.

Giving references is difficult because you could name all the greats of the seventies but that will not do justice to Agropelter because they definetly have their own style, still sound up to date and that is very cleverly done. Imagine adding a great singer to this without denying Olson's intention and integrity, that would really be something. Anyway, that's up to the man himself.

I can't help but recommend everyone to listen to The Book of Hours because you'll do yourself a huge favour with it, even if you, like me, attach a lot of value to vocals. A lot of attention has also been paid to the truly beautiful cover, despite the fact that the image shown is considerably darker than the music on the album.

I'm glad I bought this album and I have to admit that this is definitely the best instrumental album I know and every time I listen to it again I notice how quickly the forty-five minutes of the album are over. This will probably be the first album that is completely instrumental and will still be in my yearlist. Since I eventually have to add a rating, I would like to explain something. With good vocals added, this album would score even considerably higher. I hope Olson will consider this for a next album but for now, great effort.

Music 81

Cover 94