Norwegian group Tusmörke ("Twilight") is a strange beast. With roots stretching deep into the Scandinavian neo-progressive rock underground of the early nineties. 2014 sees the dark minstrels return with their sophomore album Riset Bak Speilet ("The Birch Behind The Looking Glass"). A 50-minute transmission from the heart of the darkest northern forests, the album channels the spirit of classic British acid folk rock and soaks it in a black witches cauldron...

Riset Bak Speilet contains eight tracks (1 hr, 10 min, 51 sec) and on first listen through I thought this was a joke album. The tracks sound like the sort of thing that even Spinal Tap would refuse to play when they were going through their hippy stage.

It's odd as there's a mix of Dungeons and Dragons style medieval music crossed with rock music, crossed with hippy pagan nonsense.

Particular noteworthy tracks, for all the wrong reasons include 'Offerpresten' (where I swear the lyrics are: "Ya-Ha! f*ck this"; and 'Kairo' (which seems to involve a dalek screaming and more hippy nonsense).

Maybe it loses something in translation, and that to Scandinavian ears Riset Bak Speilet it is the dog's b*ll*cks. But to these ears it was just b*ll*cks.

2

Nick Smithson