The Windmill is a Norwegian band offering Progressive Rock sounds, active since 2001 and with four full-lengths to their credit. The new album “Mindscapes” was released on July 01, 2024 via Crime Records and contains 4 full-length tracks, including an epic suite of over 22 minutes. The opener “Fear” is the album’s standout track, with its long duration exploited in its entirety to deliver an intense and emotional Symphonic Prog suite. The ban combines classical sounds with modern Prog sounds, thanks to the band’s personal touch and top-notch technique. After a first part with dynamic and expressive singing, where the band proposes a more melodic Symphonic sound, with a change we enter an intense instrumental section. The flute enters and offers soloist cues, developing a Tullian sound, increasing in intensity as the song progresses and alternating between singing and engaging instrumental parts. The melodic vocal acts as a counterbalance to the instrumental parts that are more energetic and steeped in 70s-style Rock, enriched by tempo changes and references to the Progressive masters. The band enhances their compositional and performing technique through this long and refined epic that keeps the listener involved from start to finish, exploring the different musical facets that characterise the band’s personal style. Tracks like these are good for all music, not just Progressive, an excellent track. “Calton Hill” is the shortest in duration, still clocking in at over four minutes, featuring a solid more Rock sound in the opening with intertwining keyboards and guitar riffs. The vocals are melodic, with engaging choral refrains, while the keyboards give a modern, electronic touch to the sound. In a continuous alternation of more energetic and elaborate passages and melodic openings, the song flows nicely with a fine wind solo in the second half. Dreamy sounds with delicate piano melodies open “I Still Care,” characterised by an intense and emotional singing that interprets the lyrics with pathos. The song develops into a musical crescendo that culminates with the entrance of all the instruments and offers a succession of emotions that accompany us to the finale. The flute enriches the final instrumental section, giving a pastoral touch to the sound, before making way for the guitar. The tracklist ends with “Nothing in Return,” a track that immediately brings to mind the heavier sounds of Jethro Tull, with the flute playing the lead role in the melodies. The vocals are incisive, while the guitar riffs give that heavier touch to the sound, with a solid rhythm section enriched by a killer bassline. The choral refrains alternate with the more energetic parts both in the verses and in the instrumental sections, which also offer interesting keyboard solo interventions. The tempo changes enrich the structure of this granitic and elaborate track, which leaves us wanting to listen to the album again in the future. A band offering a mixture of classical and modern Progressive Rock sounds, with a long opening track showing the more Symphonic side. The following tracks are more melodic, still with strong Prog connotations, ending with an incisive and intricate track a la Jethro Tull with the flute as protagonist. A recommended listen for all Progressive Rock lovers with long instrumental textures and intertwining vocal parts and the flute embellishing the sound.
Tracklist
01. Fear (22:47)
02. Calton Hill (4:55)
03. I Still Care (6:52)
04. Nothing in Return (5:55)
Lineup
Erik Borgen / Lead & Backing Vocals, Guitars
Arnfinn Isaksen / Bass
Stig André Clason / Guitars
Morten Clason / Flutes, Saxophone, Backing Vocals
Jean Robert Viita / Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Kristoffer Utby / Drums
With:
Emil Olsen / Acoustic Guitar (1)
