I was really taken with Lights of Skadi when they joined us to celebrate Halloween a month ago; so much so that I decided to listen to another track from their EP ‘A Cinematic Experience (Orchestral versions)’, which has just been released on the Comedia label.
I’ve always liked the use of orchestral cinematic pieces in rock music. Some of my favourite bands over the years have employed them and across several genres too, but mainly in prog and metal and it is no coincidence that Lights of Skadi is a ‘prog metal’ band, a heavenly fusion where I’m concerned and as I mentioned last time out.
The previous song (also on the EP) was ‘Book of Dead’, one so powerful that it evoked an image of Armageddon, the last battle between good and evil before the Day of Judgement (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as himself).
The EP carries on where that single left off, with grand orchestral versions (inspired by composers such as Hans Zimmer and Ashton Gleckman) of the songs on the full-length – ‘A Cinematic Experience’ which is to be released next year.
For the sample track I originally chose ‘Gods’ which is over 13 minutes long and the opening section of which alone sounds like every cathedral pipe organ in Europe had been brought into commission at the same time, as if to send a message out to every exoplanet out there that we are here. Hello!!
I thought it might all get a little too much for you though; you have to be weaned onto this band.
I opted instead for ‘Far away’ partly because it features Polina Faustova, a noted cellist who has experience of playing with Hans Zimmer’s orchestras.
I’ll be honest with you. In over 10 years now of doing this I can’t recall ever encountering anything with such power and majesty as this composition, whether it has come out of the Nordics, anywhere else on Earth, Pandora’s Box, or down a sunbeam. It is quite extraordinary.
Since it is ‘cinematic’ (and boy isn’t it just), I’m trying hard to think what cinematic experience it would fit. The best I can come up with is if you sat in the world’s biggest and best planetarium and watched a video projection of the creation of the universe, with this as the accompanying soundtrack.
Not so much the Big Bang as the Big Tune.
Or perhaps if there was a final iteration of the 2001 – A Space Odyssey franchise; one in which everything is explained and Man gets to meet his Maker, be it God or the things that left the monolith buried on the Moon, or something else entirely.
In fact the novel (3001 – The Final Odyssey) was written 27 years ago. Perhaps they were just waiting for this music before making that film.
From what I’ve heard these lads are actually out-writing Mr Zimmer and his peers. Perhaps they should be making their own films, or co-operating with the likes of TENENTNET, who worked with GoGo Penguin to make the audio visual feast that is ‘Aphonenia’.
Lights of Skadi are the multi-instrumentalists Jorgen André, Jesper Jansson and Martin Ragnarsson.
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LightsOfSkadi/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightsofskadi/
