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The year is 2000, and it is the year that Norwegian Prog Legends WHITE WILLOW released what would be the band’s third full-length album.  Titled “Sacrament” the album would undergo a long, painstaking creative process, one that would ensure that the arrangements of each song were inventive, dynamic, and above all, beautiful. 
 
After a lengthy period of rehearsals at the Norwegian Institute for Scene and Studio, WHITE WILLOW entered Lydkjøkkenet, a brand new studio run by Øystein Vesaas, a talented engineer whose patience and personality were a perfect fit for the band, allowing them time to experiment and try out different variations.
 
Recorded over an extended period of time, due to the fact that WHITE WILLOW’s founder Jacob Holm-Lupo was holding down a full-time job, the sessions for “Sacrament” would often run from the evening until well into the night. Despite the punishing schedule,  the whole band felt energized and believed totally in the material they were working on, so that instead of feeling onerous, the whole experience is remembered by them as an enjoyable time.

It is creation about which Holm-Lupo says:
 
“Sacrament” is the first album where I think we did everything really well
 
It was during the making of “Sacrament”, that the Prog scene itself was undergoing a period in which certain elements of the genre were beginning to filter through into mainstream music, which in itself gave WHITE WILLOW somewhat of a motivational boost.  The end result was an album  that not only received glowing reviews world-wide and healthy sales figures, it also received some mainstream recognition.
 
Now, as part of Karisma Records plans to re-release six albums from WHITE WILLOWS’ back catalogue, “Sacrament” has been  meticulously remastered by Holm-Lupo himself to become the third of the six scheduled releases. 
 
Set to appear on the 5th July, this will be the first time that “Sacrament” will be released in vinyl format, and, along with the Limited Edition White Vinyl, it will also be available in CD and Digital formats.  

Presented with the classic original cover art, track listing on “Sacrament” is as follows:
 
1. Anamnesis
2. Paper Moon
3. The Crucible
4. The Last Rose of Summer
5. Gnostalgia
6. The Reach
 
“Sacrament” is now available to pre-order from: Webshop:  https://www.karismarecords.no/shop/

WHITE WILLOW was formed in 1992 by guitarist Jacob Holm-Lupo, who at that time was a member of the POLICE/BRUCE HORNSBY-inspired pop band THE ORCHID GARDEN, and keyboard player Jan Tariq Rahman from local jazz-rock/prog rock band DUGGVÅTE DVE.

It was a case of two musicians coming together see if they had any kind of songwriting chemistry, and, whilst sitting on the floor playing acoustic guitar and clavinet, produced the track “Snowfall” which convinced them that they could, indeed, come up with something worthwhile.

WHITE WILLOW’s history, however, was never simple, with members having come and gone over the years  and only Holm-Lupo having remained with the band since its inception, whilst WOBBLER’s Lars Fredrik Frøislie has been a mainstay since 2001.

The band’s  sound too has undergone changes, but it’s safe to say that it is frequently centered around female vocals and an expanded instrumentation that usually includes a host of analogue synthesizers, mellotron, woodwinds and strings, in addition, of course, to traditional rock instrumentation.

Now, exclusively a studio project, WHITE WILLOW is noted for featuring guest appearances from prominent musicians such as  Norway’s guitar hero Hedvig Mollestad, or internationally renowned klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer. 

By the time the re-release project is finished, Karisma Records will have released all six of the following albums:

Ignis Fatuus – 1995 (released Nov 2023)
Ex Tenebris – 1997  (released April 2024)
Sacrament – 2000  (due for release July 2024)
Storm Season – 2004
Signal to Noise – 2006
Terminal Twilight – 2011

More information about WHITE WILLOW can be found at https://www.facebook.com/whitewillowband/
 
A video for the track “Kansas Regrets” from WHITE WILLOW’s 2011 album “Terminal Twilight” can be seen below.