Review: Seven Impale – SUMMIT

Style: Progressive Rock, Jazz Fusion, Progressive Metal, Jazz Rock (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: King Crimson, Thank You Scientist, Tool, Frank Zappa
Review by: Christopher
Country: Norway
Release date: 26 May, 2023

Aficionados of the underground will be used to the fickle world of band formation, break-up and hiatus. For most artists, music is a hobby that might make you some money if you persist but is ultimately a potentially prohibitively large investment. For that and many other reasons, bands split up, reform, disappear, or simply cease. This seemed to be the case for Seven Impale, a Norwegian darling of underground prog who released two albums, City of the Sun and Contrapasso in 2014 and 2016 respectively. … And then nothing. Radio silence. Until now!

Seven years after their sophomore, Seven Impale have returned with SUMMIT. Comprised of just four tracks and yet running to an impressive forty-four minutes, SUMMIT is as hefty and expansive as the band’s debut. Their sound is somewhat like a heavier King Crimson if Robert Fripp had played saxophone, while Stian Økland’s operatic baritone (Økland is actually a trained opera singer) against those doomy, slithering riffs. The overall effect is akin to a hippy commune gone awry, the Zappa-esque madness ratcheted up into metal spheres, the acid spiked, the good vibrations amped up to a dangerous quaking. 

“Hunter” opens with dissonant organ chords and chaotic sax licks before switching to a languid, doom-laden verse before exploding into total cacophony, the lamenting mantra “I happened to know your next move/and you knew mine too” wending its way throughout the track. “Hunter” is a good taste of what’s to come; Seven Impale have, somehow, gotten more proggy, accelerating and decelerating through vistas of madness throughout SUMMIT’s runtime.

“Hydra” has a dreamier quality, opening with reverb-laden keys and haunting sax lines before segueing into a driving rhythm straight out of an eighties rock hit. It continues to evolve through a range of trippy soundscapes, from more languorous weed-hazes into sections of pulsating, fever dream soundtrack. The more overtly psychedelic qualities of Contrapasso are elegantly interwoven into SUMMIT—indeed, it feels like the perfect sonic blend of their first two albums: the grounded progressive jazz of their debut, with the more daring experimentation of Contrapasso. 

“Ikaros” continues the trend towards speed with a positively punky opening and a pensive build-up with drumming as close to a blast beat as jazz rock dares, while “Sisyphus” sees hair-raising white noise perforate an otherwise calm section, and the instruments have a tendency to dive into chaotic contrapuntal sections that achieve that classic jazz sound of sounding completely united in their disunity. The explosive “chorus” (if anything on an album this defiantly proggy can be called a chorus) in which Økland wails “higher, higher, falling” is downright unhinged, just one of an infestation of crazy sections to delight on SUMMIT.  

Seven Impale were always on the slower side of the jazz rock spectrum, as reflected in their doomy quality. SUMMIT might be their fastest record as they switch into higher gears far more frequently, and it’s to the record’s merit. Pure prog in the most lengthy and evolving way, Seven Impale nevertheless can sometimes overstay their welcome a bit. That issue, which arose on previous releases from time to time, is far less of a problem here—most of the time you find yourself rather enjoying being so confoundingly lost within the everchanging labyrinth. 

With that said, SUMMIT is undoubtedly worth the seven year wait; a more eccentric venture that cycles through a variety of jazz-crazed, cannabis-fugged and doomy prog rock sounds, and a more dynamic version of their own sound. Seven Impale have refined their skills over this long hiatus, forging possibly their best album yet. It’s a pleasure to see such a talented band return to shake up the scene; hopefully we won’t have to wait quite as long for album number four!

Recommended tracks: Hydra, Ikaros
You may also like: iNFiNiEN, Karmic Juggernaut, Utopianisti, Subterranean Masquerade
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Karisma Records – Facebook | Official Website

Seven Impale is:
– Fredrik Mekki Widerøe (drums, percussion, banjo, vocals)
– Benjamin Mekki Widerøe (saxophone, flute, Vocals)
– Erlend Votlvik Olsen (guitar)
– Stian Økland (vocals, guitar)
– Tormond Fosso (bass, cello)
– Håkon Vinje (keyboards, vocals)