Reflections of Norway

Track Listings

1. Brazilian Psalm -- Jean Berger

2. I'm Going Home -- arr. Moore

3. I Believe This is Jesus -- arr. Moore

4. Praise to the Lord -- arr. F. M. Christiansen

5. Sommersalm (The Earth Adorned) -- arr. Ahlen

6. Och Jungfrun hon gar i ringen -- Alfven

7. Norge, mitt Norge -- Paulsen

8. A Hymn of the Nativity -- Leighton

9. Hvad Est Du Dog Skjon -- Edvard Grieg

10. O Crux -- Knut Nystedt

11. The Exaltation of Christ -- Charles Forsberg

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
This recording by the St. Olaf Choir under the direction of Kenneth Jennings was recorded live in The Grieg Hall at the Bergen International Festival in Bergen, Norway.

Reflections of Norway,St. Olaf Choir,Oarfin Records,Christmas / Chanukkah,Norway,Pop,The St. Olaf College's world renowned choir performing contemporary and traditional Christian choral music.

Tracks:

Clarity
Realization
Of Divine Nature
Transition
Passion's Quest
Reason's Desire
Premonition
Remnants Of Beauty
Existence
Continuance
Predominance
Inception Perspective
In All Reflections
Bloodstained And Sworn
Mirrored In Time
An Eternity Of Dreams

Album Description

Winds creates a seamless and most inspiring mix of classically oriented metal fronted with clean vocals, dark progressive guitars, philharmonics, classical piano and floating synths. The intricate arrangements, all written so they flow with the concept in mind, deliver spirals of dazzling melodies filled with magnificent atmospheres, offering a sublime elegance that makes their music a truly superb sonic journey! The End. 2002.

Customer Reviews:

This is a great album!.......2006-05-19

WINDS is labeled as a neo-classical/progressive metal band.I really like all of their albums.The vocalist has an excellent voice and the guitarist is said to be better then malmsteen.This is a very soothing album that you can listen to over and over again and it never gets old.If you like melodic music I recommend this to you or anyone that is a fan of talented musicians.

Winds capture moments of mind and soul adrift.......2006-03-27

Winds is an orchestral maneuver in darkness. Only ocassionally does the band allow for light to pierce through and claim some semblance of joy in what is a reflection of sorrows and darkness in the mind of the i. First track "Clarity" sets the stage with listful violins and cellos which kick in dramatically with rat-a-tat drums from Mayhem and Kovenant drummer Hellhammer aka Jan Axel Von Blomberg and a vocalist who's style is one part Peter Steele of Type O Negative and equal parts Dishwalla, Opeth, and Marcy Playground. This creates a vocal melody that's fresh and constant of change. This is grand scale with minimalism in effect. Track two "Realization" continues the dark journey as it presents the listener with the key to the abyss which can be reflected in i.

The guitars are embellishments. They are the window dressing. Never do they take center stage but never are they lost and speak only when appropriate throughout the musical presentation. Think Yngwie Malmsteen with less ego.

Realization gets heavier towards the end with Hellhammer dishing up a plate of unrelenting double bass drums. Track #5 "Passions Quest" is a power metal epic which is one of the few times when light and brightness is allowed to shine through. No doubt this is the hope in the impending doom. It's soars and aurally it catches the right mood at the right time. Then as soon as you feel it's alright to smile then we're dragged back into the abyss with stalking vocals and calculated vocal motives.

The next few songs appear to be a melding of Ynwie Malmsteen and Opeth like compositions that never quite reach power metal but still retain an epic power metal feel.

Track #9 "Existence" offers the first real noticeable change in tempo and character since Track 3 "Of Divine Nature" in that this is once again soaring power metal with grandiose guitars and drumming with deep/clean vocal exchanges. This will satisfy those fans of Kamelot, Blind Guardian, or Helloween.

Tracks 10 and 11 set the stage for the brooding menace that follows. Slowed tempos and Opethian vocal harmonies hook handedly drag the listener into the darkest reaches of the subconscious. This is the point in the movement that we hear the Type O Negative influences manifesting themselves on Winds.

Track #12 is one of the darkest and in my humble opinion the best song. This is when our deepest desires to skulk and taste of the southern lips of creation, invited or uninvited. We sway in sexual disabandon.

By track #14 "Bloodstained And Sworn" we are in the throes of blood, sweat, and sex. We are not innocent. we are the secret desires of the blackened i.

Track 16 leaves us an "Eternity of Dreams" that begin to lift us back from that drenched bath in reflective darkness with a cold hand and a legitimate apology for taking us where we may not wish to enter or be reminded of...but it is with that realization in mind that WINDS takes us on this jounrey of mind and soul...an aural road winding and only slightly lit...as we are given a relection of the i and made to remember what made us yesterday and what will recreate us tomorrow.

The last person who reviewed this obviously doesnt know anything.......2006-01-23

i hope the review Sergio Morales didnt turn off a person from buying this marvelous record.its so funny really,,when he says that this album has flat guitar work,please..and then he goes by the really laughable comment of"they dont even play the symphonic instruments! how do they tour??",,im asuming he thinks every band must tour and or hasnt heard of synths,,,and the fact that one can arrange music for instruments you dont play doesnt pass through this ignorants mind

WINDS...the most soothing metal out there........2006-01-06

Well first off I will start off by saying that I have owned this CD for many, many months now and I have to say, that I can still listen to it over and over again without getting tired of it. The orchestra and the guitars combined with one of the most soothing voices in metal (besides Opeth) has got to be the greatest combination EVER! I've read a lot about how some people think that they have too many guitar solos...and I have to say..."quit being so jealous, put on the headphones and enjoy the greatest guitars on this earth!" THEY NEVER PLAY THEIR GUITAR TOO MUCH, EVER. It is all perfectly harmonized to create the soothing sounds of the orchestra and the insane guitar, and still not over do it. These guys are pure talent...no questions asked...no ifs, ands, or buts about it. They are not trying to create a "im alone and no one is out there," thing, they are just merely attempting something that hasn't been done before. AND THEY WERE SUCCESFULL!!

The vocalist...he has the best voice I have ever heard. He can sing, and I will say it one more time for emphasis...HE CAN SING. Contrary to what "Sergio Morales" thinks this is the FARTHEST thing away from an emo-hardcore voice. Becuase, first of all, I ABSOLUTLEY DESPISE EMO WITH A PASSION, and second, hardcore/metalcore just happens to be my favorite type of metal. So I belive I would know what that sounds like. If you are a fan of Opeth then you will LOVE the way he sings and you will ultimatly fall in love with every waking moment on the CD. My advice is not to listen to "Sergio Morales," and discover what true talent Winds posseses.

Oh, Gimme a Break!.......2004-10-29

I haven't listened to this disc in a little so I'll try to write this review as best I can.
Winds is a band that combines a very gothicky and somber orchestration sound along with that of metal, using an abundance of violins and the like and the band playing guitars. The music is very nice sounding and atmospheric at times, but overall there is too much of one thing on this record that could get on your nerves and not have you coming back for more. Lots of people call this "progressive," but just cause you have an overload of symphonies, that doesn't make you progressive.

The album (like many others) opens up pretty good, with "Clarity" which has this mind-bending sort of eery out-of-tune violin melody backing up its light chugging riff, the song almost warps you in to what you think is going to be a very experimental and deeply involving album. The vocals on this track sound almost "Type-o-Negative" like and creepy. The song is unfortunately way too short and you really feel the band could've done so much more with it. The next few songs on the record sound similar but are good songs (well, mostly good), using more atmospheric and depressive orchestras along w/ their somewhat complex and finger-tapping pull-on/pull-off guitar solos that give off this Transylvanian vibe that I really dig. Guitars break off in a lot of moments giving way to orchestrial solos which add a lot to the imagination.
The album contains three instrumentals which while are all very good, are much too short and disappoint the listener greatly after such potential is just abrubtly stopped.
The band uses a lot of windy sounding guitar solos to complement and intertwine w/ the orchestra, and while this sound may be good for those gothic "I'm so depressed, so alone, the world doesn't understand me" types, the rest of us will just be sitting back going, "this sounds nice, but ENOUGH already! Yes, we know you're sad and alone and are just doing all this to woo goth chicks, but we know the truth!" All songs while they could be hits or misses all sound much too similar in their fundamental sounds. Sure there's different structures and whatever but with 16 songs you definitely feel like you're listening to just remixed versions of songs you already heard. The band also relies too much on the same chuggy mid-tempo riff, almost never incorporating any inventive or melodic leads or riffs of their own. This is ok if you care more for an orchestra rather than metal and don't mind guitars not leading the way - but I personally feel the band could've benefited from not relying on this so much.

Another very big downer: the vocalist. This guy while sometimes giving into the Peter Steele wannabe deep and gothic vibes, sounds too much like just another one of those clean emo-hardcore "metal" bands out there plaguing the airwaves. There is almost no passion in his voice and even less creativity. If you're one of those who hates this new mainstream "metal" sound, this guy will irritate you to no end. Most especially the parts where he stops singing and goes into "deep" and "intellectual" gothy banter poetry - it's like, oh please gimme a break.
Yes, even with all of this the music is still beautiful, AT TIMES, but I wouldn't go and be jaw dropped by something that has so much potential but inevitably wasted by a sub-par vocalist and uncreative, flat guitar work. Are these guys even the ones playing the orchestra instruments on this album?? If not, how do they even play in concert? This should have probably been credited to a symphony and not the band. If you're looking for somber and depressive music, look elsewhere, I'm sure there are other bands out there who do it way better.

Average customer rating:

Reflections of Norway
St. Olaf Choir
Manufacturer: Oarfin Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000062TC3
Release Date: 1999-10-25

Tracks:

Brazilian Psalm -- Jean Berger
I'm Going Home -- arr. Moore
I Believe This is Jesus -- arr. Moore
Praise to the Lord -- arr. F. M. Christiansen
Sommersalm (The Earth Adorned) -- arr. Ahlen
Och Jungfrun hon gar i ringen -- Alfven
Norge, mitt Norge -- Paulsen
A Hymn of the Nativity -- Leighton
Hvad Est Du Dog Skjon -- Edvard Grieg
O Crux -- Knut Nystedt
The Exaltation of Christ -- Charles Forsberg

Album Description

This recording by the St. Olaf Choir under the direction of Kenneth Jennings was recorded live in The Grieg Hall at the Bergen International Festival in Bergen, Norway.