Green Carnation — A Dark Poem, Part III: The Messiah Complex
The current sound of Norway's Green Carnation is a marriage of classic prog rock and characteristically Scandinavian influences, from black metal and dark folk to art rock. The band are veterans in the truest sense, having formed in the 90's, and have arrived at this sound after decades of refinement. They are one of the shining stars of this scene, having never abandoned symphonic scope or technical depth of writing, even when straying far from their original sound
Their latest, A Dark Poem, Part III: The Messiah Complex, is a short album at just under forty minutes, with three songs six to eight minutes in length and then an epic closer of nearly seventeen minutes, which, curiously enough, turns out to be fully orchestral. Each song is a story from beginning to end, with many instrumental interludes with melodic synth leads and pads akin to classic soundtrack sounds. The synthesizer, alongside the vocals, remains perhaps the strongest presence throughout the album, with strident melodies throughout the album's many breakdowns.
The album is apparently the third in an ongoing concept/series, but as I haven't heard the previous installments, I can't comment much on that. The lyrics do seem like classic progressive concept album fare, with one of the songs describing biblical stories and characters such as King Herod.
A wonderful ambient Moog-ish tone opens the recording for immediate Pink Floyd comparisons. It is joined by a midtempo rock riff with a comfortable warm fuzz. The production is lush and ear-massaging. These initial 3 songs unfold with a subtlety and sophistication I can only compare to Ulver, or the best Opeth material, or perhaps Season of Mist labelmate Cynics' jazz inflected forays into alternative rock.
Kjetil Nordhus' tuneful vocals are an ethereal croon that draws influence from progressive metal as well as darkwave and alternative metal. If you've heard later Katatonia or Anathema, you know this kind of vocal tone, but I think Green Carnation exceeds them both in songwriting. Both lyrically and instrumentally, Green Carnation are more adventurous and create material with greater depth, where the aforementioned bands got too bogged down in repetitive chorus and pop formula. There are hooks of a kind, but they are never overused.
"A Dark Poem - Orchestral Suite" is a technically competent, lushly ornate piece of classical music that feels like it could be from the early 20th century, the era of Copland and Debussy, and would make a perfectly lovely film score to a dark fantasy adventure. The fact that none of the musicians from the band are playing, however, makes it a strangely jarring ending to the album, which now feels more like an EP, that happens to share space with this separate, though equally high-quality, orchestral work. One can easily imagine the band playing along to it, and I wish they had, just to create a bit more connective tissue between it and the opening three songs.
Despite the incongruous nature of the album's two halves, all the music presented here is masterful. Having heard their 2020 release, I already highly respected this group, but am beginning to suspect they are an all-time favourite.