22.06.2008.
Asgaerd - In the Realm of Asgaerd (1972) (@256)
(Review from progarchives.com)
The English band took their name 'Asgaerd', taken from ancient North European mythology, means 'castle of the gods'. Perhaps because of its Tolkien-esque resonance, 'Asgard' seems to be a popular one among progsters as it is shared by two other bands, one a 70's French folk outfit and the other a '90's Italian neo-prog group.
The artwork hides some pretty good hard progressive that is strongly guitar-driven heavy progressive rock often oogling in the direction of Uriah Heep with Hensley’s organ replaced with Orgil’s violin. Another particularity of the group is that it had two full-time singers in Smith and Bartlett. Their sole album is made of short songs (only two just barely over 5 minutes).
Right from the first seconds of the opening title track, you just know this album will be aimed at those that like dramatic organ-driven progressive, even if in this case the group is organ-less. But this doesn’t stop them from sounding like the best Uriah Heep moments between Salisbury and Look at Yourself and in particular July Morning. Also coming to mind at times is Vanilla Fudge’s Renaissance album without the psych influences: mid- tempo with strong throat-grabbing multi vocals that appeal to most young males in their late-teens or just after.
"Town Crier" is a bit more of a Beatles-inspired track, partly because of Orgil’s double-tracked violin, sounding Rigby-ish (all things considered of course) but this is due to the descending violin line. All of the tracks are fairly even in quality and are contagious in terms of enthusiasm. In some tracks, Kansas is not too far away either, but this mostly due to the violin again. Among the better tracks is the "Children Of A New Born Age" and its follow-up "Time".
Line-up :
- Ted Bartlett / vocals
- Dave Cook / bass
- Rodney Harrison / guitar, vocals
- Peter Orgil / violin
- James Smith / vocals
- Ian Snow / drums
Track List :
01. In the Realm of Asgaerd - 4:26
02. Friends - 4:40
03. Town Crier - 3:59
04. Austin Osman Spare - 4:16
05. Children of a New Born Age - 3:14
06. Time - 5:12
07. Lorraine - 4:42
08. Starquest - 5:17
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