Ring Van Möbius - Past The Evening Sun - 2018
“... brilliant debut album! ...”
intro
Ring Van Möbius is a trio from Kopervik, Norway. The band released their debut album “Past The Evening Sun” on the Apollon Records label. This power trio (keyboards , bass, drums) plays Prog Rock from the 70s. The band is inspired by bands like Van Der Graaf Generator, King Crimson and ELP. The trio consists out of Thor Erik Helgesen on lead vocals and keyboards, Harvard Rasmussen on bass and Dag Olav Husas on drums and percussion. Please read further because this is a remarkable debut album by many considered as one of the best Prog albums of the year!line-up
Thor Erik Helgesen - Hammond Organ L100, Fender Rhodes, Clavinet D6, Moog Satellite, Kong MS20, Mellotron; Harvard Rasmussen - Fender Bass VI, effects; Dag Olav Husas - drums, percussion, timpani, effects
Guest: Karl Christian Gronhaug - saxophone
Guest: Karl Christian Gronhaug - saxophone
review
Listening to this debut album is an overwhelming experience. If you like progressive rock music from the seventies this album is a must buy. Especially if you like bands as Van Der Graaf Generator, King Crimson and Emerson Lake & Palmer. Together with guest Karl Christian Gronhaug on saxophone and Thor singing in a style reminiscent of Peter Hammill the comparison with Van Der Graaf Generator is obvious.The album has only three tracks. The title track and opener “Past the Evening Sun” is a song of epic proportions (21:39). It consists out of the following parts; “The Pathfinder”, “The First Curse”, “The Constant”, “In Retrospect The Second Curse (Convulsion)” and “Terminus”. “The Pathfinder” is a perfect mix of Emerson Lake & Palmer, early King Crimson and early Van Der Graaf Generator. With “The First Curse” the song develops more into a Van Der Graaf classic because of the saxophone, the Hammillesque vocals and the Hammond Organ. The delicate sung parts “The Constant” and “In Retrospect” gives memory flashes of early King Crimson. The keyboard strings in those parts are often breathtaking. With “The Second Curse (Convulsion)” the Van Der Graaf Generator and Emerson Lake & Palmer influences re-emerge. This amazing epic ends with the short “Terminus” part in which all those influences comes together. The amazing thing is that the band is not sounding like a copy cat of above mentioned bands but respectfully play their own music without being afraid to show their influences.
The second track is called “End Of Greatness”. It has those beautiful Mellotron string melodies we know from those early King Crimson albums. Almost six minutes of pure bliss. What a beautiful track.
This remarkable debut album ends with a twelve minute song called “Racing The Horizon”. It has an Emerson like synth opening. Then the piece slowly becomes more Van Der Graaf Generator influenced. I like the combination of the Emerson Lake & Palmer and Van Der Graaf Generator influences. It has a kind of 1 + 1 = 3 effect to me.
conclusion
As you will have understand by now, this debut album “Past The Evening Sun” from the Norwegian power trio Ring Van Möbius is highly recommended by progVisions. Especially for the lovers of Prog Rock of the seventies. For early Van Der Graaf Generator, early King Crimson and maybe also Keith Emerson fans this is a must buy. Brilliant debut album!