Oslo-based Sykofant are a band releasing their debut album at the end of May and have been creating some very positive waves and vibes in the rock music world. Indeed, my colleague Graham Harfleet played a track from the album on his Progressive Rock Show on Progzilla Radio recently, and the comments were universally positive. Rightly, because this outfit are very talented, and have packed 55 minutes of creative juices into a work which shows tremendous promise for a long and successful career.

Founded by Emil Moen (vocals and guitar) and Per Semb (guitar), they added Melvin Treider on drums and Sindre Haugen on bass guitar. I think that the best way I can introduce this band to you reading this review is that they draw on multiple influences and styles but are another modern band who take said influences and bring them together into something interesting, wishing to push musical boundaries, as opposed to simply retreading old ground. Ideal for this website, then!

The album’s themes are time, alienation, the search for meaning, and mankind’s relationship with nature.

So, six tracks to discuss with a couple of releases embedded for you to enjoy. Get ready for what can only be described as a rollercoaster ride.

We open with Pavements of Colors. Straight away, the bass grooves hit you, with a funky guitar over it, jazz infused percussion, a top-tapping, head nodding groovathon, something I must admit to not having expected given the fact Moen & Semb were members of a thrash metal band, Tantara. This could not be further away from that, and when Moen’s vocals begin, you hear the inherent melody in his voice. The opening guitar solo is a moody one, very effective, and it segues into a heavier passage of music with some strong riffs interspersed with more of that funk, the final ninety seconds providing us with a nice classic rock infused vibe, reminding me a bit of mid-period Zep and early Rush. It is a good start.

Between Air and Water is epic length and has an official video, embedded below. The image is quite evocative in the storm. You will love the brooding bass guitar and swirling guitars. The vocals are very nicely laid back on the open sea as we get a nice heavy psych piece, and I do enjoy the voice harmonies. Fans of early seventies Floyd will love the opening passage, which gives way four minutes into a heavier loop, the riffs nicely repeating themselves and then building in intensity with Moen & Semb proving an effective axe combo as the extended mid-section instrumental takes you in before the opening mood reasserts itself before a dreamy guitar solo leads an urgent rhythm section. The closing quarter begins with the outfit rocking out and it sounds fantastic, heavy, tuneful, apocalyptic, industrial in a Crimson inspired race to the death, or existential vacuum as the closing narration informs us.

Monuments of Old is the other release prior to the main album, and that is also embedded here. This is the radio edit, but you will want to know that the album track is about three minutes longer, and I will likely be playing the extended piece on my monthly video after the album’s release. You will note the clear Rush references on this as the opening riffs come out of the speaker. Again, I love the image produced there with the whale floating across the image of time and space. As it develops, the Zeppelin influence becomes paramount, and if Messrs Page, Plant, Jones, and Bonham were starting off in 2024, you can be sure that this is what they would want to sound like. The closing segment has the Rush sound assuming control. This is a very solid retro-infused piece of music.

Between the Moments follows this. I love the bright start on this in an opening passage which cries out to me a radio friendly single there for the taking. I get a sense of alienation, obsession, and yearning for life’s personal meaning in this very thoughtful track. Halfway through, we get an infusion of guitar riffs with an inbuilt sense of Americana but combined with a rhythm section directly influenced by Echoes. It is an interesting mix, of that there is no doubt.

Strangers is the penultimate track and is the second epic-length just over ten minutes. I like the eastern infused guitar solo on this overlaying an industrial set of riffs before the main track opens with a dreamy set of vocals, the mood of which is blown away by “the stranger in me” and the track develops into a very good modern progressive metal piece influenced by the likes of Porcupine Tree and Opeth. Then, you get one hell of a surprise. A metal slab of spaghetti western music, and fine it is, too. It comes completely out of the blue, from as left field as it is possible to get, and it is a highlight of 2024 to these ears. I know this – Morricone will be smiling up there in the afterlife having received a message from the administrators to listen to this long-haired lot from Norway. This frenetic passage cannot last the distance, the strangers having exhausted themselves in the chase and gunfight, and the passage which allows them and us to come down is eerie, psych, extremely lovely, and the closing lonely notes segue us into the album closer, Forgotten Paths, the third epic on the album weighing in at over fourteen minutes.

There is a Scandinavian pastoral sense to the opening, evoking the sounds, sights, and comfort of home before the riffs assert themselves over the acoustic strumming. Moen excels on this this, bringing us a natural sense of closure to his personal journey, finally allowing the sense of self to take over, and this is exemplified by the most beautiful guitar solo. The next distinct passage three and a half minutes in has a nice signature change, with understated riffs and a thudding bass which ever so gradually builds in intensity with a band very comfortable in presenting heavy rock in a quieter environment, a slide guitar bringing once more a western feel before the halfway mark which has a direct reference point from Echoes, especially the bass lead. It is almost Pompeiian, in fact, for those of you who love that live performance from back in the day. As this ends, the modern dramatic rock takes over, with some nice rhythm guitar work, jazzy bass and percussion melodies, and then very heavy infusions of musical chaos, hard psychedelic rock in the manner of Tree leading us up to a strong cinematic close to proceedings.

So, what to make of this? Regular visitors to my words will know that I am not usually a particular fan of retro-rock, certainly when this is based upon a single “parent” band, but this act is different. There is a veritable smorgasbord of stuff going on here, a fusion of varying classic bands rolled into something which sounds remarkably fresh, and, as such, I have no hesitation in recommending it. Take yourselves off to https://sykofantband.bandcamp.com/album/sykofant to see how you can obtain a copy.