Norwegian progressive rock group AVKRVST will release their debut album ‘The Approbation‘ on June 16th, 2023.
The Approbation is a concept album about a bleak soul who is left solely with his thoughts, isolated on a cabin deep into the dark forests, far away from civilization.
The 49 minutes long concept album contains 7 songs, which take the listener though the thoughts of a man struggling towards the acceptance of death, being hauled into the abyss.
Previously released as a single on streaming services, the haunting new video for the album’s second single “Arcane Clouds” is out today and can be seen below.
The band had this to say about the video:
“The video(s) are shot at a beautiful location in Elverum, Norway and the main character(s) are visually inspired by ‘The Lovers’ (René Magritte).
We wanted to capture the mood of the record and bring the viewers further into our story. It’s portraying the lonesome soul and his minds, towards the end of life.
We wanted to have still shots and no moving camera to make it all seem like the time goes slowly by, and just portraying everyday chores at the cabin.
He is followed around by his mind (the second character) waiting for his time. The ending is a visual metaphor of the character finally accepting death, laying down into the bed and leaving earth.”
Pre-order the album here:
https://avkrvst.lnk.to/TheApprobation
The Approbation is a concept album about a bleak soul who is left solely with his thoughts, isolated on a cabin deep into the dark forests, far away from civilization. The 49 minute long concept album contains 7 songs, which take the listener though the thoughts of a man struggling towards the acceptance of death, being hauled into the abyss.
The whole album is written and recorded at a cabin in Alvdal (Norway) during a rainy, cold fall and winter. Throughout the album, the sounds of rain and train horns from afar can be heard, which are actual sounds recorded outside the cabin at night under the stars.
Sonically, The Approbation is a massive sounding piece of music. It’s everything from lush, melancholy moods to heavy, more aggressive atmospheres. It tries to capture the feeling of a cold, gloomy fall – a dark sky, filled with gazing stars above the mist.
Tracklisting:
1.Østerdalen 0:26
2.The Pale Moon 6:15
3.Isolation 5:41
4.The Great White River 6:30
5.Arcane Clouds 6:05
6.Anodyne 10:15
7.The Approbation 13:37
At the young age of 7 years old, Martin Utby and Simon Bergseth made a pact that they would form a band when they got older. Now, 22 years later they’ve created an album inspired by everything they grew up listening to from Mew, Anekdoten and Porcupine Tree to Opeth, Neal Morse and King Crimson, yet unique in its own right.
The Approbation was written and recorded at a cabin in Alvdal (Norway) during a rainy, cold fall and winter. Simon (composer, guitars, bass and vocals) and Martin (composer, drummer and synths) were later joined by Øystein Aadland on bass/keys, Edvard Seim on guitars and Auver Gaaren on keys.
Sonically, The Approbation is a massive sounding piece of music. It’s everything from lush, melancholy moods to heavy, more aggressive atmospheres capturing the feeling of a cold, gloomy fall – a dark sky, filled with gazing stars above the mist.
Watch the video for the first single “The Pale Moon” here:
https://youtu.be/4PK7iiMYEwE
The band have shared a video on how to pronounce “AVKRVST” which you can see here:
https://youtube.com/shorts/o7ZTNcpqGcU?feature=share
Artwork by Eliran Kantor