The second collaboration between the Swedish chamber rock band Isildurs Bane led by keyboardist and composer Mats Johansson and lyricist, vocalist and guitarist Peter Hammill (Van Der Graaf Generator) presents two new multi-part suites with lyrics by Hammill--"In Disequilibrium" and "Gently (Step by Step)"--detailed, astute and powerful works of sophisticated progressive rock.
"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary music. Sweden's leading chamber rock ensemble, Isildurs Bane, and the legendary Van Der Graaf Generator vocalist and composer, Peter Hammill, has joined forces once again and have risen to that challenge.
In Disequilibrium consists of two contrasting suites that flow with surging melodic themes, sinuous guitar, intricate arrangements for mallet instruments, graceful woodwind, sumptuous orchestral detailing, organic textures, and bracing rhythmic counterpoints. In fact, everything you would expect from one of the leading Scandinavian progressive rock chamber ensembles that effortlessly mixes tightly composed pieces with supple, free-ranging virtuosity."-Isildurs Bane
"Peter Hammill does not slow down. The Van der Graaf Generator leader, prog savant, and sorely underrated songwriter has never truly taken a moment to rest on his well-deserved laurels. It's almost as if he views the thought of stopping as death: whether through Van der Graaf, his own work, or, in more recent years, collaborations with adjacent prog bands, decidedly few years since 1969 have seen the man inactive.
His latest, alongside Swedish prog stalwarts Isildurs Bane, is one of the grander statements he's expressed in years. Who better, after all, to delve into the collective fear and misery of the COVID era than a man who's been exploring paranoia and emotional isolation for more than half a century?
For those that haven't followed either act, this is not the first time the two parties have linked up: 2019 saw them gather for In Amazonia, yet, that project feels almost playful in comparison to their second offering. Any sense of laid back collaboration has been abandoned for consciously grand stakes on In Disequilibrium.
Spread across two massive, disparate, and ultimately stately suites, the recording for this mammoth creation took over a year, with the artists clocking in for 14 months. Where In Amazonia, at times, could give the sense of Hammill simply waxing poetic over what Bane laid down as they assembled the album piece by piece, here every step of the way feels carefully melded, an intensive, true collaboration in every sense of the word, even in spite of the necessitated separation of the players. [...]"-Chase McMullen, Beats Per Minute
Includes 12 page color booklet with lyrics and credits