Lars Fredrik Fröislie - 2023 - Fire Fortellinger

(46:52; Karisma Records)

Track list:
1. Rytter Av Dommedag 16:56
2. Et Sted Under Himmelhvelvet 6:53
3. Jaertegn 6:27
4. Naturens Katedral 16:36

Line-up:
Lars Fredrik Fröislie - vocals, keybaords, drums, percussion, recorder
Nikolai Haengsle - bass


Prolusion.
Norwegian composer and musician Lars Fredrik Fröislie has been a feature in the Norwegian progressive rock scene for a number of years, most prominently as a member of lauded band Wobbler, but he has also been involved in the bands White Willow and Tusmörke. "Fire Fortellinger" is his first ever solo album, and was released through Norwegian label Karisma Records in the summer of 2023.

Analysis.
As one might expect from a musician with Fröislie's background, symphonic progressive rock is the style explored on this production. In this case a purebred excursion into these landscapes, much to the delight of fans who tend to adore this variety of progressive rock presumably.

An additional tidbit of interest is that this is a production that revolves around the classic tradition of the form. The keyboards used come with a vintage sound, the organ is very much present, those who love the Mellotron will most certainly find it here and the harpsichord adds its brittle charm to the proceedings too. Those who enjoy vintage keyboards will find a lot to enjoy here, to put it that way.

It is probably a given that this is a keyboards dominated album too, and in this case with the bass being the secondary instrument of note in terms of adding dominant impulses to the landscapes explored. The latter often present in a hard and booming manner, with associations going towards Fröislie's band Wobbler as well as to the late Chris Squire.

The songs themselves follow some more or less typical patterns, operating either with more of an ebb and flow motion between gentler and more vibrant phases or opening in either a more mellow or more vibrant manner and then seguing over to the opposite orientation after a bit. The vibrant phases will typically also feature the more expressive moments of the compositions, and those fond of virtuous keyboard details will get their thrills in those passages. The gentler and more mellow escapades feature delicate moments, pastoral excursions and flowing, atmospheric landscapes of a tender as well as a more majestic nature. Those fond of the dreamladen tapestries woven by one or more keyboard layers will get plenty of beautiful scenes to enjoy when these parts of the landscapes are traversed.

One slight surprise for me was how much parts of this album reminded me of Tusmörke at times. This may be due to the lyrics being in Norwegian, but quite a few of the moods and atmospheres gave me associations towards that band, while the style itself, especially in the more vibrant phases, came with a few more reference points towards a band like Wobbler.

Otherwise I note that the songwriting is excellent, the mix and production comes with all the bells and retro-oriented whistles you might desire, with the only divisive factor here being that not all progressive rock fans outside of Norway will appreciate that this is a non-English album.

Conclusion.
Lars Fredrik Fröisle has made a stunning debut solo album with "Fire Fortellinger". While perhaps not a production that will be universally heralded, as there are progressive rock fans out there that don't care all that much for the more romantic and retro-oriented escapades, those who do appreciate productions of this kind are in for quite a feast with this one. If you know and love your classic era symphonic progressive rock, this album is one to be placed on your must listen to list, with a very high probability that it will move from that list over to the must buy list afterwards.

Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, June 2023

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/larsfredrikfroislie
https://www.karismarecords.no/