Year: 2020
Total Time: 44:00
Label: Season Of Mist
It seems that the Prog scene of Metal is going through a tremendously productive period as in recent years extremely quality works have been released by many bands, new but also old. One such case is that of GREEN CARNATION, the band formed by Terje Vik Schei (a.k.a. Tchort) who wanted to play Death Metal in the early 90’s. However, after a year of existence, Tchort decided to put a (temporary) end to it and followed other musical venues that led him into the path of EMPEROR and SATYRICON, while the remaining members of the band created the legendary IN THE WOODS…
Just before the new millennium, Tchort reforms GREEN CARNATION while at the same time plays in BLOOD RED THRONE and CARPATHIAN FOREST. The band’s first two albums are quite close to the Avant-Garde style of IN THE WOODS… but also lean towards a dark and atmospheric Doom Metal with several Prog sensitivities. Then and with several member changes, the Norwegians will make a 180-degree turn that will lead them to a more Progressive Hard Rock style and will complete this stage of their career with a purely acoustic record!
“Leaves Of Yesteryear” comes to fill the “gap” of this genre change, since it can be easily placed between “Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness” and “A Blessing In Disguise”. The album kicks off with the self-titled track – eight minutes of blissful atmospheric Progressive Metal with the characteristic melodies of the guitar and the keyboards having the leading role here. The tone is nostalgic with a small dose of optimism in the lyrics. The “Sentinels” takes the baton and darken the mood with its imposing Doom Metal start. Very quickly though, it raises pace and arrives at a Heavy Metal fist raising chorus, made for impressive sing along. The song maintains its Heavy style until the end where it revisits the massive riff with which it began. The unexpectedly good rendition of “My Dark Reflections Of Life And Death” from their debut is the link between today and the past, as the whole band shines on this and turns the Avant-Garde anthem of “Journey To The End Of The Night” into a fifteen-minute Progressive masterpiece. Keyboards, electric and acoustic guitars, piano, bass, and drums, they are all are in perfect harmony while Kjetil Nordhus on vocals delivers perhaps a flawless performance. “Hounds” that follows, cleverly combines acoustic guitars with galloping Doom rhythms while Stein Roger Sordal’s bass secretly steals the show. The curtain falls melancholically with the cover of BLACK SABBATH’s “Solitude”, in which Kenneth Silden’s subtle piano adds a more ethereal layer to this classic sad tune.
To sum up, 14 years after “The Acoustic Verses”, GREEN CARNATION returns triumphantly with a record that exceeded my every expectation. The songs are inspired, and the band seems rejuvenated – they have received a really warm feedback since their reunion and that played a big part I believe. If only “Leaves Of Yesteryear” included more original compositions, the grade would have certainly been higher. I hope that this will be the case with the next album, which will hopefully be “The Rise And Fall Of Mankind” that Tchort had promised us since 2006…
Rating: 8/10
Editor: Dimitris Benetatos
Related Link: GREEN CARNATION – Facebook Page
