Gentle Knife - 2017 - Clock Unwound

(55:07; Bajkal Records)

Track list:
1. Prelude: Incipit 3:20
2. The Clock Unwound 15:57
3. Fade Away 7:24
4. Smother 8:48
5. Plans Askew 9:22
6. Resignation 10:16

Line-up:
Astraea Antal - flutes, saxophone, bagpipe chanter
Paal Björseth - keyboards, flügelhorn, trumpet, viola, recorder, backing vocals
Odd Grönvold - bass
Thomas Hylland Eriksen - saxophone
Veronika Hörven Jensen - vocals
Haakon Kavli - vocals, guitars
Eivind Lorentzen - guitars, synthesizers
Charlotte Valstad Nielsen - saxophpones
Ove Christian Owe - guitars
Ole Martin Svendsen - drums, percussion
Brian M. Talgo - samples, vocals


Prolusion.
Norwegian band Gentle Knife started out back in 2014, and in the five years they were active the band released two critically acclaimed albums, had a quick growth of stature in the progressive rock scene with a booking for the Night of Prog festival in Germany in 2018 as one of the natural highlights of their career and then opting to conclude the band activities the following year. A band that developed quickly, burned bright and accomplished more in five years than many bands manage to achieve in careers lasting much longer. "Clock Unwound" is the name of their second and last studio album, which was released through the label Bajkal Records in 2017.

Analysis.
Gentle Knife was a band that stayed safely inside of the rock part of the progressive music universe throughout their short and bright career, and this second and final album of theirs is no exception to that. It is also an expressive creation, with the kind of content that probably will have something of an evergreen feel to it, or music that explores the legacy of progressive rock in a manner that cannot be easily set in a specific time period if you like.

Following an initial gentle opening piece with a bit of a tender and sacral feel to it, this album unfolds in quite the intriguing manner, showcasing a band that have left conventions and boundaries behind and that excel in combining different aspects of progressive rock as well as alternating between different subsets of progressive rock.

This is an album where pastoral excursions and powerful, heavy set arrangements easily exist side by side. Side steps into symphonic landscapes is a recurring factor, and the inclusion of some jazz elements is a natural component. A bit of a flirt with chamber music is a bit of an ongoing detail here, and side steps into acoustic rock and more hard rock aligned landscapes comes as a natural part of the territory here too.

The compositions on the album are just as likely to blend different aspects of these variations as they are to alternate between them, and references to bands as different as Camel and Magic Pie may well appear within the same song. This is a band that appears to have had a very good time at playing around with style variations in a few different combinations, and while their creations tend to be on the accessible side of matters this is music that is both expressive and sophisticated too.

This is an album that sounds just as fresh, or should that be timeless, as it did back in 2017. And while the band has been disbanded, or hopefully just on a hiatus, their music is still commercially available. The many musicians involved in the band are active in other projects too, and they use the Gentle Knife Facebook page to keep people informed about the activities of the different members. Hence connecting to the band even several years after the band quit will still yield information of interest.

Conclusion.
For those who missed out on Gentle Knife when they were still active, this second album of theirs showcase the band at the height of their expressive and creative peak. The kind of album that makes it both easy and natural to comprehend and understand the band's quick rise in stature in the progressive scene. The compositions are accessible, but also with an expressive and inclusive nature and orientation, making them rewarding experiences for a broad audience within the progressive rock scene and presumably a bit beyond it as well. A high quality production it is worthwhile to get familiar with.


Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, April 2023

Links:
http://www.gentleknife.com/
https://www.bajkal.org/bajkalRecords.html