Guardian's Office, The - The Guardian's Office

Year of Release: 2002
Label: Cyclops
Catalog Number: CYCL 128
Format: CD
Total Time: 46:57:00

Cyclops has done it again. Like so many times before, they have once again unearthed a truly spectacular band which, when I listen closely to their music, should be ideal for labels such as Record Heaven or Black Widow Records. The moment the sounds of ?Hit The Ground" fill the room I can't help but think of bands such as Atomic Rooster and Uriah Heep. Especially the distorted guitar will be of an important significance. That and the quality voice of Tony Johannessen will most certainly steer the band towards a more hard rock approach. At first I thought Cyclops had found another Sinkadus, but I was wrong. The band has a female on bass just like the current White Willow line-up but we don't find flute, violin or cello on this album. Instead Guardian's Office tends to deliver the kind of progressive rock that was big in the seventies with a band such as Uriah Heep, a band which also alternated heavy riffs with modest acoustic passages. Tony's sparse keyboard interventions tend to have the Fruitcake hallmark nicely accompanied by Froydis' bass pedals.

When the band includes acoustic passages as during ?Play Of Your Life," they almost find themselves with both feet in the middle ages. ?The Room Below" is an ingenious composition based once again on the vintage underground prog from the seventies. Especially those bass pedals give the band a distinctive retro sound which in combination with the high pitched organ makes a nice contrast. Throughout the entire album, you'll notice that there very few lengthy solos that will pop up, as the music you hear tends to be a group effort all down the line. The final track, ?The Guardian" at times sounds a little like Druid before it changes when the vocals are introduced. I don't really like the long delay with the echo though.

Three bearded men and a girl. Sounds almost like the plot for a Hans Christian Anderson story. Instead you get the line-up for Guardian's Office, who with their self-titled debut, have delivered a very interesting album which shows great promise for the future. Maybe the inclusion of some additional instruments to make the musical spectrum a little wider would be highly appreciated.

Tracklisting:
Hit The Ground (4:39) / Dark Girl (7:27) / Play Of Your Life (7:35) / The Room Below (5:53) / Office Of Hard Cash (5:40) / Loser In The Sunset (5:04) / Heat Of That Sound (4:53) / The Guardian (5:37)

Musicians:
Tony Johannessen - vocals, keyboards, backing vocals
Morten Eriksen - guitars, bass
Froydis Maurtvedt - bass, bass pedals
Pal Sovik - drums, backing vocals

Discography:
The Guardian's Office (2002)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin NO

Added: September 22nd 2003
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website:
Hits: 2210
Language: english