Adventure is a Norwegian band founded in the early nineties. In 2000, the band released their eponymous debut album, but then it took nine years to produce this successor entitled Beacon Of Light. The sound of vintage keyboards like Hammond, a mellotron with a choir and violin section and especially the MiniMoog are omnipresent in the thirteen compositions. These keyboards are often used in the heavy and bombastic atmospheres with hints of heavy prog bands like Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, Ritchie Blackmore´s Rainbow and Ayreon. The raw, slightly theatrical male vocals and the frequent use of MiniMoog also brought early Rick Wakeman to my mind. The interesting element in Adventure’s music is the contrast between the heavy prog sound loaded with wah-wah guitar, abundant Hammond organ and MiniMoog solos, blended with songs or interludes that contain mellow atmospheres. These pieces feature acoustic and classical guitar, flute, grand piano, cello and slow rhythms with wonderful, very sensitive electric guitar playing. For me, the highlight is the long and varied title track: an intro with flute and floating keyboards, a middle section with bombastic and mind-blowing Hammond evoking Jon Lord. The song ends up with majestic mellotron choirs, slow rhythms with fiery wah-wah guitar and again bombastic keyboards: goose bumps! In general, this Norwegian formation succeeds in generating a lot of excitement with their tastefully arranged compositions, embellished with glorious sounding vintage keyboards and exciting wah-wah drenched guitar play. Adventure’s sound, however, is not very original and there’s also room for improvement in the compositions, but apart from those remarks, this one’s recommended to all prog heads, but heavy prog fans in particular! ***+ Erik Neuteboom (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
