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listing With the recent news that Green Carnation are to play their first gig in Derry, I thought it was prudent to add a review of their current opus ' The quiet offspring' on the hallowed pages of iImarocker.com, I have to admit that it was our own Mental Vortex who put me onto them with their last release ' A blessing in disguise'. I'm a fussy oul bastard when it comes to new bands, they either have to grab me straight off or create enough of a spark for me to want to make the effort, if it does catch me then being the anorak that I am I usually end up buying their entire back catalogue, and that's what happened me with Green Carnation. A lot of categories have been bandied about when trying to tie down Green carnation, from Melodic doom metal, progressive doom metal, and even gothic progressive metal. Regardless of how people have tried to tag them, the best one that should be attached to these guys is fantastic. One of the things I really like about Green Carnation is that they follow the song, they go where it leads them and don't confine themselves and this is evident again of 'The quiet offspring' The
opening track which is also the title track of the cd starts of
with some nice solid riffing there's even a nu-metal feel to the
track, but don't let that tag put you off this is good stuff, followed
closely by 'between the gentle small & the standing tall' a
solid tune with a nice mellow mid section that would have a Deep
Purpley feel to it, this has recently had an airing on Kellz Storming in next is 'Just when you think its safe' which is a Solid Rocking tunethis is a highlight on the cd and is the type of track that that should get the Derry crowd bouncing along. With an almost modern Marillion feel, a folky / mellow vocal brings in 'a place for me' that builds into a nice rocky solo & outro. 'The everlasting moment' has some great guitar solos and the track is helped along by some nice keyboard work. 'Purple
door pitch black' has a gothic feel with more great but never overshadowing
keyboard work but is a great rocky song.'Childs play part1' would
be have to be one of my favourite tracks on the cd. This track wouldn't
seem out of place on a Porcupine Tree cd. It has aa great atmospheric
vocal by Kjetil who shows us a bit of his range. 'Dead but dreaming'
has us back in killer riff territory, this is fantastic stuff and
is classic Green 'Pile of doubt' is a bit more mainstream prog metal, if that's not a contradiction in itself, but GC aren't some Dream Theater clone nor is this prog by numbers. 'When I was you' is a down beat tune, gloomy and melancholy; a theme continued hauntingly on into the last track the piano & vocal 'child play part 2' again instead of finding a formula and sticking to it Green Carnation have gone where the song has taken them. This is one stormer of an album and doesn't disappoint, it's an album of textures, layersl depth and riffs, lots of riffs! With an album like this and considering their previous releases have been brilliant I'd love to see them get the exposure they surely deserve. So do yourself a favour and get along to the Nerve Centre next month. In terms of style Green carnation will appeal to everyone, from the older heads to the young metal fraternity.
10 questions with Green Carnation's Kjetil Nordhus 1. How are you, where are you? I'm great, thank you! Currently I am living on the west-coast of Norway, in a town called Haugesund, away from the rest of the band. My girlfriendworks as a TV-reporter here, and I have used the last couple of months working full time with my bands, Green Carnation and Trail of Tears. 2. What's currently happening in Kjetil Nordhus' world? There's lots of exiting stuff happening with Green Carnation right now. Weare currently rehearsing a new live set for the mini-tour in UK and Ireland June, and the festival appearances in Europe and North America later this year. Also, I am working hard on the finances for a full U.S.tour some time in the future. So these are busy days. 3.
What has been the best concert of one of your peers that you have
ever Hmm, there's a very cool festival in our small home town Kristiansand, which over the years have attracted lots of great artists from all over the world. I do have some fantastic concert memories from that festivals. I remember Massive Attack after their "100th Window" album was incredible. And also you get to attend gigs with bands you've never heard of, like last year, when I saw Electric Eel Shock from Japan - and they were just fantastic. 4.
Do you remember the first place/time you ever stepped on stage,
and That must have been with my Faith No More cover band almost 10 years ago. Luckily we were well prepared, because the turnout was a lot bigger than we had expected. And although the nerves almost took control, we had been working so hard in advance, that there were no problem, and only a great, big party in the end! 5. What was the first song you ever wrote/performed? Of more serious stuff, that was "Two Seconds in Life", for Green Carnation's album "A Blessing in Disguise". At least that was the first one being recorded and produced in a proper way. Prior to that I had been writing songs for years, but more the kind I didn't share with anyone else. But it was a good training, though, and I followed up with another song on our album "The Quiet Offspring". I do want to write even more stuff in the future. 6. What performer are you in awe of, and why? That
must be Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr Bungle, Fantomas, Tomahawk
etc). If I were to write the history books about music in our time,
he would definitely be one of the people worth mentioning, with
his incredible voice, avant-garde thinking, and quality through
and through. I 7. What have been the high and low points of your career to date? The high point is simply 2005 until now. I am extremely proud of having built both my bands up to this level, and there's no way stopping us now. So if you ask me again in one year, I hope the answer will be 2006.. I don't have too many specific low points, but I would have to say the music business in general. It's a dirty, dirty business. 8. What is your favourite city to have a show in and why? I hope I haven't been to that City just yet. But I'd have to say that Mexico City was an incredible experience, with Trail of Tears a couple of years ago. With Green Carnation there have also been a lot, but some of the best have been Warszawa and Dublin, actually, because we had no idea what to expect, and we ended up with great atmosphere and great gigs. 9. If you could tell someone to do something what would it be? To check out Green Carnation's new album, "The Quiet Offspring", before we come and play at the Nerve Centre in Derry on June 16th. We will do everything we can to make this a great evening, and the only thing that's missing for this being a fantastic night, is a good and big crowd! Clips of our songs you'll find at www.greencarnation.no 10. What colour is the sky in your world? It varies between red, pink, yellow, gold and orange, which someone once told me was the colors of exitement. Many thanks to John Norby for organising the 10 Questions & also thanks to Kjetil for answering them To view pics of the gig mentioned in this interview click HERE |
In
advance of Green Carnation's Irish tour in June which includes a
gig in Derry's Nerve Center on June 16th Sav has reviewed their
latest cracking album 'The Quiet Offspring' & lead singer Kjetil
Nordhus answer's Sav's '10 Questions