I'll try to keep this brief, since I just don't want anyone to blame me on missing out on this record only because reading my review took so long. The thing is: There's no digital release. So if you don't get Fra Det Onde's new album on vinyl - you won't get it at all!
FRA DET ONDE - Smilet Er En Flyktig Tilstand (LP + Flexidisc) (2026)
This Norwegian Electric Free Jazz group has a special place in my heart for giving me my favorite live show of 2021, while I was on a four-day music vacation in Denmark, where events came back earlier than in Germany after the pandemic. Just like on their 2020 EP "feat. the legendary Emil Nikolaisen" the trio of Olaf Olsen (drums), Rune Nergaard (bass) and Erik Kimestad Pedersen were joined by said musician / producer at that remarkable performance.
On "Smilet Er En Klyktig Tilstand" (="Smiling Is A Fleeting State") he is once again adding organ, electronics and maltreated production and is finally instated as an official fourth band member.
From the get-go the album feels like a Heavy Jazz Fusion fever dream which recreates the wildest phase of Miles Davis, but firmly places it into a world which already knows Noise Rock, Jazzcore or the Brass Metal of Ottone Pesante, without Fra Det Onde actually sounding like one of those.
At the heart of tracks with nonsense titles such as "Zed Leppestift" or "Dummyman137" still lie majestic trumpet melodies and Olsen's bonkers drumming being held together the electric bass. But the chaotic textures and noises added by Nikolaisen - plus samples and various spoken word narrations by Zabina Davari Elfang - just give the music a sensation of permanent ridiculous overflow. "Smilet Er En Flyktig Tilstand" is a masterfully performed dirty mess between exuberance and sheer insanity.
Most titles flow directly into each other like one unbroken stream of swirled consciousness, so I didn't even try to divide side A into the three tracks it actually contains, when I made my own digital copy. Contrary to the label's usual practice El Paraiso Records didn't even include a download card this time.
But don't worry too much; with 500 vinyl copies the release actually isn't too limited for you not to still have the chance to grab it.
If you order it directly from the label shop - which thankfully can ship cheaper to destinations outside of Denmark now - you'll also get a little yellow goodie in the shape of a Flexidisc. Musically these four minutes on low-fi medium aren't very essential. Just a snippet of the album track "Rex-Ronya" as well as a live excerpt of the older song "From". You'll survive without it, but it's nice to have and adds to the obscure quirkiness of it all.
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| Fra Det Onde |
From the get-go the album feels like a Heavy Jazz Fusion fever dream which recreates the wildest phase of Miles Davis, but firmly places it into a world which already knows Noise Rock, Jazzcore or the Brass Metal of Ottone Pesante, without Fra Det Onde actually sounding like one of those.
At the heart of tracks with nonsense titles such as "Zed Leppestift" or "Dummyman137" still lie majestic trumpet melodies and Olsen's bonkers drumming being held together the electric bass. But the chaotic textures and noises added by Nikolaisen - plus samples and various spoken word narrations by Zabina Davari Elfang - just give the music a sensation of permanent ridiculous overflow. "Smilet Er En Flyktig Tilstand" is a masterfully performed dirty mess between exuberance and sheer insanity.
 |
| live at Musikhuset Dexter, Odense |
But don't worry too much; with 500 vinyl copies the release actually isn't too limited for you not to still have the chance to grab it.
If you order it directly from the label shop - which thankfully can ship cheaper to destinations outside of Denmark now - you'll also get a little yellow goodie in the shape of a Flexidisc. Musically these four minutes on low-fi medium aren't very essential. Just a snippet of the album track "Rex-Ronya" as well as a live excerpt of the older song "From". You'll survive without it, but it's nice to have and adds to the obscure quirkiness of it all.
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