MAGIC PIE: King For A Day (PROGRESSIVE ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Appearing in the progressive landscape 10 years ago with a first album with an improbable artwork (a magnificent apple!), the Norwegians of Magic Pie come back to us in 2015 with their fourth effort, soberly entitled "King For A Day".

Far from the darkness and melancholy that stick to most Scandinavian bands, Magic Pie imposed a punchy progressive from their first album, shamelessly marrying the legacy of the genre's elders with the energy of the hard-rock of the same period. In short, a good dose of Flower Kings mixed with Deep Purple and Uriah Heep. An original recipe, and successful (at least in esteem) for their first two albums. However, their previous release, "The Suffering Joy", had seen the band integrate a new frontman on vocals, coming from the metal scene. Either a cause and effect relationship or simply a consequence of the inspiration of the moment, their muscular progressive had then taken a frank metal orientation. With "King For A Day", the band returns to slightly less noisy standards, regaining their original dynamic without outrageously overdoing it.

And to show once again all their energy, the Norwegians start this new album with a potential radio single, the very punchy 'Trick Of The Trade'. As for the two other "short" tracks on this album, Magic Pie grabs the listener from the very first seconds and never lets go, varying the sung melodies, adding Spock's Beard choruses, and interspersing the whole with instrumental breaks. The marriage of vintage sonorities (Hammond organ a la Jon Lord) and virulent guitars regularly flirting with metal but without frightening the most sensitive ears is perfectly successful. The energy deployed by Eirikur Hauksson on vocals as well as his slightly hoarse timbre fully participate in this implementation without any dead time.

This recipe can be found on the two longer tracks 'Introversion' and 'Tears Gone Dry'. If the first one would have deserved a better negotiated end (the last quiet moments seem superfluous compared to the swarm of ideas and the powerful choruses that precede), the second one proves to be of great beauty and takes full advantage of the space granted to it to literally bewitch the one who will have made the mistake to put his two ears on these 12 minutes.

For dessert, there's still the "obligatory passage for a prog band" (the band defines it as such in an interview with "Prog" magazine - we'll leave them the responsibility of this assertion) by the 28-minute mega opus that constitutes the eponymous title of the album. 'King For A Day' is thus, unsurprisingly, a return to the recipes already used. In spite of its length, the track doesn't provoke any listeners to stop listening to it, even if it would certainly have gained in conciseness over time: Magic Pie's style clearly needs some attention as there are so many twists and turns, and over a total duration of 72 minutes, it sometimes becomes difficult to avoid a loss of concentration.

Without making any noise (so to speak), Magic Pie takes a little more of a place at the top of the basket of modern progressive formations, those capable by their style of capturing both the followers of a progressive inherited from ancient times, but also those who are waiting for a connection more in tune with the current times. With "King For A Day", there is no doubt that the wager is once again successful. - Official website

MAGIC PIE

KING FOR A DAY

KARISMA RECORDS

PROGRESSIVE ROCK