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██▌ Artist...: Soft Ffog ░▐██▌
░▐██ Album....: Focus ░██▌░
▓▐██ Year.....: 2025 ▓▐██▓
▓▐██ Rel. Date: 2025-12-15 ░▐██▓
▐██ Genre....: Progressive Rock ██▌░
░ ██▌ Label....: Is It Jazz? Records ██▌
▐██ Source...: CD ▐██
░▐██▌ Type.....: Album ▐██▌░
▓▄████ Quality..: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo ████▌░
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1. Camel 9:11
2. Pocus 8:30
3. Focus 8:40
4. Oh Jimi 10:17
36:38
Sophomore album from this talented Norwegian quartet, formed by two
members of Krokofant, the recent 'enfant terrible' of the Norse scene,
guitarist extraordinaire Tom Hasslan aka Zappa Finger and Axel Skalstad
aka Pheel the Collins on the drum kit. They are complemented by Wizrd
keyboardist Vegard Lien Bjerkan aka Wake(up the)man and finally from the
band Red Kite, Trond Frones aka Geezer Jeezus playing the bass only on
the sabbath. And who dares to say that Scandinavians have no sense of
humour, have you not heard of the Finn funny man Ismo? Their eponymous
2022 debut caused a stir, but this latest release has a distinguishing
inclination veering towards a Focus influence that shows up between all
four players at times, as well as collectively. This band lets loose in
intense jam mode, a yearning to have fun in the studio and let the chips
fall where they may. The gorgeous cover art certainly satisfies the
visual senses.
Hinting humbly at the legendary British band led by Andy Latimer "Camel"
certainly underlines the melodic spirit behind that band, the pearly
keys and bustling rhythm section settling into a robust groove, the
idyllic platform for the electric guitar to begin soaring across the
sonic dunes. Whereas the master was famous for long sustained emotional
notes, here Hasslan lets it rip with a blistering array of rapid-fire
salvos, leaning towards the more focused (sic) standard that will make
up the album. The e-piano section is a glittering oasis of sun-drenched
streaks, a mirror in the desert showing the way to liquid salvation.
Channeling his innermost Jan Akkerman fantasy on "Pocus", Hasslan goes
properly berserk on his 6-string implement with a tour de force homage
(two French words creeping into the verbiage-another Gallicism!), though
Bjerkan chooses a decidedly jazzier piano and e-piano route on his
ivories, while the rhythm section perfectly salutes the Ruiter-Van der
Linden attack. Starting out in a breezy lilt with a clavinet
introduction, the build-up gradually goes tornado (Happy Birthday Bill
Bruford) with a blizzard of peaks and valleys, playfully gathering steam
with some patented flurries that recall the finer moments of the Focus 3
album.
"Focus" keeps the foot on the cyclist pedal with a gentler foray into
more bucolic workings, that swoon unashamedly into Metheny territory,
the finger technique is bewilderingly accurate, mastering both leads,
riffs, and flicks of the wrist, just like Jan did and still does today
in his golden years. The comprehensive synth solo is quite the skidding
workout, with enough shape and bend to thrill the most passive listener.
It becomes apparent that the main underlying attribute of this quartet
is plain old fun, jamming like there is no care in the world.
Written like this "Oh Jimi", it can only refer to Hendrix , as the
spelling 'Jimi' has been permanently retired to the rafters, after he
died on September 18, 1970. Kicking into a medieval tinged Jon Lord
sounding organ surely ruffles the feathers, injecting the electric
guitar with bluesy dexterity, as the pace slows to a grind, and the
steady groove is set as the ideal gliding platform on which Hasslan can
stretch, steal and borrow those characteristic moaning lines that made
Jimi such a legend. A ten-minute rocking roller coaster ride is set in
motion with just enough personality to dismiss any overt copycat urges,
the keyboard spotlight doing wonders for the atmosphere as well as
transitioning into varied mood swings that augur well for the explosive
finale, where a Mahavishnu Orchestra - like feel shatters all the
illusions.
I enjoyed the debut, but this is a much higher raised bar, easily
reached without steroid enhancers or blood packing, just a more focused
(oops!) approach that had the courage to add another iconic figure as a
final coup de grace. Well played and totally unpretentious.
---
SOFT FFOG are a four piece from Norway led by guitarist Tom Hasslan. He
is the composer of all the music, and some may now him from his main
band KROKOFANT. We have Trond Frones on bass from the band GRAND
GENERAL. That album they released is a good reference to the music here,
with the guitar led jazzy music on display there. We get keyboardist
Vegard Lien Bjerkan who also plays with WIZRD. Same with drummer Axel
Skalstad but not only with WIZRD he also drums with KROKOFANT.
And sadly I have to say the late Axel Skalstad as he passed away due to
an accident a month shy of his 33rd birthday. This just happened on June
9th and the news has sent shock waves through the Norwegien Jazz
community in particular, where Axel was a staple playing with pretty
much everyone. I'm not sure if this album is the last he recorded but if
it is I can't praise him enough for going out like this. I used to think
of him as a John Marshall type who was powerful and more rock sounding
than jazz.
But Axel's performance here is nothing short of astonishing. His jazz
chops were alive and well my friends on this recording. He's very active
but so much touch here. It was from the first listen what stood out to
me. The album ends with "Oh Jimi" and after we hear the heaviest part of
the album after 9 minutes, it settles to just drums only around 10
minutes in, then silence. You couldn't script that any better. Emotion
for me, just hearing Axel, then it's over. It's really over.
I feel that this album is better than their debut. It's interesting the
song titles like "Camel", "Pocus", "Focus" and "Oh Jimi", because they
all relate to those three artists, with Pocus giving us no doubt to who
Focus is. My least favourite track is "Focus" but the keyboard led final
three minutes are great. The opener Camel contrasts two themes then the
electric piano takes the lead after 5 1/2 minutes with some killer drum
work. What a combination! And they run this to the end.
"Pocus" is interesting with those punchy and intricate sounds. I like
that the bass has the spotlight for a change. The drumming and guitar
are outstanding before 5 minutes to almost the end. Insane drum work to
end this song. My favourite though is "Oh Jimi" and not just for the way
it ends. I really like the keyboard led parts, and again the drumming is
all over this. I like how it trips along before 6 minutes. Guitar leads
after 8 minutes before it turns heavy and powerful ending with drums and
nothing but.
Better than the debut in my opinion, but you have to wonder if this band
will continue in light of Axel's passing.
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