ANSUR - WARRING FACTIONS - 2008

Ansur is a trio that stems from Norway, the land of black-metal. Ansur didn't break with the tradition on their debuts. However, with 'Warring factions', their second album, we can notice a clear transition towards more eclectic musical directions, encompassing jazz-rock, old-school prog (hammong organs) but also neo-prog (keyboards and guitar work on "sierra day"), soul, avant-garde, space-rock, funk, and even country-rock on one song. The metal of their debut is still present but more elaborate, with many shifting rhythms, prog-metal vein. Vocals are sung in the black/death-metal style (and this is probably the only weak point of this record), but the pace is rather slow, and aggressive passages alternate with lighter ones. This album is truly impressive and showcases the virtuosity of each other, their extensive musical knowledge, and their ability to incorporate in their music so many different styles with ease and avoiding the stylistic composition. None of the songs follows a single musical direction. The opening and closing theme of "cloudscaper" is a rendition of the main theme of James Bond film 'Diamonds are forever'. The last song ends majestically with an obvious wink to the music of Iron Maiden (the leading theme begins with a piano/guitar duo then hammond organ makes the transition to a guitar/bass/drums that recalls the good old compositions of the masters of british heavy metal). Hopefully the sudden change of direction in their music will not create divisions in the band. Moreover, taken into account their young age and the host of influences (Brian Eno, Rush, Voivod, Dream Theater, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Reuben Wilson, Spyro Gyra, Iron Maiden, Pat Metheny, Pink Floyd, Egberto Gismonti, Wishbone Ash, Marillion, Albert Lee, Arcturus), one can only expect further gems from this band in the future.
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