There are really two versions of this Norwegian band: the metal one and the symphonic one. They were originally formed in 1973 by two guitarists, a bassist, keyboardist and vocalist who indulged in hard rock. No sooner had they released an album than three members split, leaving the bassist and vocalist on their own. The two recruited three new members and released a second album of an entirely different sort. Failing to sell, however and their record company balking at financing a third album they tried to widen their audience by writing material with English lyrics and even changed their name to ICE at one point, but to no avail. They split up in 1978, briefly reformed in 1991 for a couple of concerts then went their separate ways.
Their first release På Sterke Vinger is a hard rocker that could almost be described as a proggy version of IRON MAIDEN (two years before this band was even born!), complete with dual guitars battling it out, pumping bass and the appropriate harsh vocals. Still a bit hard-edged, the second album Hardt Mot Hardt is much more symphonic, giving the keyboards a more prominent role as well as featuring flute and strings. Its a mixture of 70s hard prog with softer moments and a little local flavour (lyrics on both albums are sung in Norwegian). The vocalist is the same on both although he sounds much more convincing on the second album. There is also a live album, Live and Unreleased , comprising material from three shows during 1975, 1978 and 1991. Seeing as two of these shows were professionally recorded for broadcast, the quality is first rate.
All three albums are recommended to fans of hard prog, especially På Sterke Vinger if youre a fan of early NEKTAR or early metal bands in general.
