Green Carnation
Acoustic Verses

The Norwegian band Green Carnation, after several style changes in their previous albums (from doom to metal to prog-metal), decided it was time to unplug the cords and produced this surprising latest (for now) studio work dated 2006.

As the title suggests, the metamorphosis compared to previous works is almost clear given that this is an acoustic album oriented towards a melancholy and poignant folk imbued with poetry and strong emotions that blend from the first to the last song.

The percussion executes a kind of march during "Sweet Leaf" where Kjetil Nordhus immediately stands out with a top-class vocal performance, perfectly in sync with the refinement of the accompanying instruments. "The Burden is Mine...Alone" is composed, played, and sung entirely by bassist Stein Roger: the guitar arpeggios come directly from the heart of the player and link to the soul of the listener in a brief sensation of sweet melancholy. I like to imagine "Maybe?" as a gentle autumn breeze that caresses the face and then gradually increases to become a wind that carries away the yellowed and withered leaves. "Alone" instead is characterized by some very folk violin passages and a poem by Edgar Allan Poe sung by Kjetil with his warm and emotional voice.

Green Carnation has never hidden their passion for '70s music: "9-29-045" is a suite of more than 15 minutes divided into three parts: as always, the acoustic guitar is present, keyboard parts that add that atmospheric touch that's always welcome, a long central instrumental part very dreamy and evocative, and the finale where the violin and a beautiful choral refrain slightly warm the soul like a mild winter sun.  "Childs Play part III" is instrumental and is the continuation of the first two parts found in the previous album "Quiet Offspring." The piano is the  protagonist and leads to the splendid final gem: "High Tide Waves": during the navigation, the sea of sound continuously shifts from calm to rough, the strings accompany the vessel to the shore, and one finds themselves on a beach through the splendid notes of an acoustic guitar solo.

From the beach, I listen to the now steadily calm waves of the sea of sound, and I look forward to setting sail again.