THE SEVEN-YEAR ITCH

After a seven-year absence, Seven Impale are back with their third album, the Enslavedapproved Summit. But, despite their name, a delay of that length certainly wasn't intentional. The Norwegian sextet bring Prog up to date on their current four-track, which embraces the myths of Ancient Greece and uses them as a metaphor for the trials of modern society.

- Julian Marszalek

"I don't think it was our intention to wait seven years," says Seven Impale saxophonist Benjamin Mekki Widerøe as he ponders the considerable gap between the band's album releases. "Our last album, Contrapasso, was made at a point where we had more free time, I think. Most of us were studying or working part-time. And there were no children involved. So yeah, we had more time then to make music and just record albums and keep the ball rolling." 

Almost following to the letter John Lennon's famed observation that "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans", the six members of this Norwegian prog jazz behemoth found themselves recalling the advice of Enslaved drummer Iver Sandøy, who produced both their 2014 debut album, City Of The Sun, and Contrapasso. (He's also credited with mixing and mastering their latest.)

"We were actually warned by him that we should record as much as possible, as fast as possible, before life gets in the way," continues the saxophonist. "And he was very right about that one."

Not that real life should be viewed as a bad thing when it comes to Seven Impale. This is a situation that the band embraced, and looking at their circumstances between the release of 2016's Contrapasso and this year's Summit, it becomes hard to disagree with their attitude. While some members became parents, others finished their education. Elsewhere, singer-guitarist Stian Økland spread his wings with a career as an opera singer after graduating from the Grieg Academy Department Of Music at the University Of Bergen, while keyboardist Håkon Mikkelsen Vinje lent his dexterous skills to prog metallers Enslaved.

As bassist Tormod Fosso explains, Seven Impale are, first and foremost, close friends with a bond that goes deeper than music.