Recension - The Flight Of Sleipnir : Saga

Eftersom jag är en klant som lyckats med konststycket att supa bort den svenska versionen av recensionen på The Flight Of Sleipnir - Saga, så får ni här hålla till godo med den grova och snabba engelska översättningen jag gjorde till bandet.

The Flight Of Sleipnir is a new acquaintance of mine, who normally falls slightly outside my comfort zone. But against all odds, they have become somewhat of an obsession of mine, lately. I stumbled across the band on my wanderings around the net, primarily for their incredibly stylish cover art, but I was quickly pulled into their realm by their moving music.

The Band's fourth album,"Saga", which was released in February this year, is a good mix of different styles. Put equal parts Black Metal, Doom, Nordic folk rock, stoner, progressive rock, melancholy and dreamy brittle acoustic tones in a blender, run it for a few seconds and presto you have The Flight Of Sleipnir.

Though this two-man band are from Colorado in the U.S., the pillars of the band, Clayton Cushman and David Csicsely has a purely magical ability to fuse together the above mentioned ingredients and interpret the Scandinavian temperament and really capture the mystical tone of the North and it’s melancholy. Musically it's done in such a beautiful way that even I am prepared to be lenient with the growling parts (or Black Metal roaring might be a better term), which normally tends to be enough for me to add a band to the pile of less interesting, but here, even I am inclined to stretch myself and admit that even the extreme vocals gives the album an extra nerve, although I think it’s when they let the soft and vulnerable music come out, together with the clean vocals, that they really stand out. Yes, it is there where the true magic appears.

It is possible that it’s the fact, that this is something that I didn’t have any expectations on, when I found them, or if it's the fact that this is not what I am normally drawn to when it comes to music, that  took me by such a surprise so that I was totally taken by the music, almost floored by The Flight Of Sleipnir and the album Saga. Even if the band's palette contains many of the ingredients that I normally like, which

The band even succeeds, in my eyes, with the fine balance between the overly theatrical and the more genuine. (This is a topic that I should examine more closely, because I have a very split and disjointed relation to it).

And As if the music itself wasn’t impressive enough, it gets even better with the fact that it is the group's own David Csicsely that is responsible for the incredibly beautiful covers of their albums. And there is no doubt that the art is effective and has its important place in the product's overall impression, as it was the cover art that caught me in the first place and lured me in. I can only imagine how beautiful the vinyl edition will be, as they are doing a double disc with an 8 page booklet and an A2 Poster. Not that the limited CD release in A5 Digipak look so bad either. And for the fans with extra attention there will also be a release of an  strictly limited edition "Die Hard Editions" of both CD and vinyl. In other words, Something for the Wishlist.

The verdict are: Highly recommended! If you haven’t already heard them, take the opportunity to listen to them on Bandcamp, it would be a shame if you missed them. And maybe take the opportunity to buy the record to add something truly beautiful to your record collection. Myself, I ‘m sure I will listen a lot on this record in the future, not to mention that there is a nice back catalog to enjoy. Sweet!

Favorite songs right now: "Reverence" and "BeneathRedSkies"

Rating:8/10

The Dry Facts:

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Line-Up:

Clayton Cushman - Guitars, Vocals, Bass, Keys

David Csicsely - Drums, Vocals, Guitars

Live Members:

Peter Slivkanch - Live Guitar / Backing Vocals

Dave Drilling Yikes - Live Bass

Justin Siegler - Live Guitar

Album: Saga

1. Prologue                                              02:20

2nd Reaffirmation                                      04:56

3rd Reverence                                            4:54

4. Harrowing Despair                       05:18

5th Heavy arrest the chains of the Damned 04:15

6. Judgement                                              5:22

7. Demise carries with it a song              04:39

8. The Mountain                                      5:08  

9. Hour of Cessation                                06:48

10th Remission                                           3:45

11. Beneath Red skies                              05:15

12. Epilogue                                             05:55

Albumrelease:February 2013

Label: Eyes Like Snow

Hemmaort:USA

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