Aunt Mary
Janus

Norway is certainly not remembered among the nations that have contributed to spreading progressive music worldwide. However, there is a group, Aunt Mary, that deserves to be mentioned, if not for creating a new musical trend, at least for perfectly interpreting the characteristics of the existing one.

In 1973, the band in question produced the album "Janus", which is their third and final studio album.

The members were Bjoern Christiansen (guitar, vocals), Bengt Jensen (keyboards), Svein Gundersen (bass, vocals), and Kjetil Stensvik (drums), all endowed with enormous technical qualities, allowing them to express themselves in quite intense progressive music, which at times recalls ELP and early King Crimson.

The first track is "Path Of Your Dream". Frenetic rhythms, a frantic guitar, and a keyboard that leads it all. The intro is interrupted by a synth, which calls the singer's voice (not bad at all!) accompanied by well-crafted choirs, all creating a pleasant intermezzo before returning to dark and hard sounds.

Next is "Mr. Kaye" which breaks the previous theme with a less demanding and short track (2 minutes), at least before returning to the levels of the first with the sharp "Norturnal Voice" where the guitar takes the lead with a good motif, before the solo that occupies a good part of the song, interrupted by a roll where Stensvik showcases all his toms.

At the end, note a reprise of the theme present in the first song, which marks the closure of this mini-suite of three distinct pieces. We continue with hard climates with "For All Eternity", where there is also space for a more relaxed part following the initial uproar. Beautiful choirs and keyboard phrases combined with acoustic guitar chords. Also to be remembered are excellent synthesizer and electric guitar solos.

Next is "Stumblin' Stone", a crescendo with bass riffs, sharp guitar chords, and organ underlay, before the explosion, where the musicians' skills can be appreciated. The complete opposite is "All We've Got To Do is Dream". In the sense that this song has nothing hard, but the group doesn’t falter for this. On the contrary, the piece is a little gem with delicate and dreamy atmospheres (as the title suggests) with the closing left to the classical guitar that weaves harmonious notes. Fantastic, despite the duration being only 2 minutes.

We change pace with "Candles Of Heaven", which very much recalls the ELP suite "Tarkus". Nevertheless, the piece is not bad, and it is played, as usual, very well, despite the complex keyboard parts, similar to Emerson’s surges. The whole fades into the album's last song, "What a Lovely Day", with more relaxed and laid-back atmospheres, but that crescendo leads to a beautiful guitar solo that gives it a sense of majesty.

Thus "Janus" (which I forgot to mention, is sung in English), and with it the group's career, closes, which will only have the opportunity for a reunion in 1980, with the release of a live album the following year, this time as a trio.