Norwegian progressive rock band Gazpacho are back! It’s been a long time since the release of their dark opus ‘Molok’, but the past three years have been spent creating new music and touring.
The first fruits of that new music can now be heard with ‘Exit Suite’ and its accompanying video, which you can stream in full below.
Comprising extended arrangements and a deep concept, Gazpacho’s 2012 release ‘Demon‘ was an epic affair that eclipsed most of their previous works. With perhaps only ‘March of Ghosts’ in the same league, with their mixture of prog rock, folk and ambient sounds, ‘Demon’s floating soundscapes, set the band farther on the road to being one of the world’s best cult bands. Recorded with a surprisingly quick turnaround, barely eighteen months after that release, 2015’s ‘Molok’ is positively dark and joyless by comparison, a record possibly set to really test the fans. On first hearing, there are no real hooks, few memorable musical passages, just an hour’s worth of ambling oddness. Naturally, subsequent plays slowly unveil a patchwork of complex musical backdrops, with a couple of tracks closer in spirit to the earlier Gazpacho and something that eventually and somewhat grudgingly comes together as an other worldly soundscape for the dispirited, but to call ‘Molok’ a difficult listen would an understatement.
After a decade’s worth of interesting material and some prestigious support slots (including a full European tour with Marillion in 2003), Gazpacho showed no sign of running out of creative steam. Their 2012 release, ‘March of Ghosts’ fused elements of Floyd with hefty doses of quieter Porcupine Tree and Pineapple Thief-esque prog to create one of their best albums to date. Two years on from ‘Ghosts’, their eighth studio album ‘Demon’ is a dark and sprawling work, culminating with an eighteen minute showpiece. Again, the element of storytelling is key – in this case, the ramblings of a possessed apartment inhabitant in Prague – but for those who do not wish to be bogged down with concept details, thankfully, the music is captivating enough to be enjoyed on its own terms.