The 23 February sees the release of “Book III: Magical Chronicle (Ascension)”, the final album in THE CHRONICLES OF FATHER ROBIN‘s Airoea fantasy trilogy.
Chronicling the journeys of Father Robin through the mystical world of Airoea, the trilogy tracks the adventures of our indomitable hero who finally reaches the end of his travels, (or should that be travails?) in “The Songs & Tales of Airoea – Book 3: Magical Chronicle (Ascension)” in which he explores the Cloud Lands in the Sky.
With fans of Prog Rockers CHRONICLES OF FATHER ROBIN (TCOFR for short) curious to see what will befall Father Robin as he embarks on his final trek, Karisma Records have today released a single from the album.
Titled “Empress of the Sun” the track can be downloaded or streamed from a variety of services at
https://link.karismarecords.no/TCOFR_EmpressoftheSun
“Book III” makes a fitting closing chapter to the trilogy, starting off as it does with the upbeat “Magical Chronicle”, a vocal driven track full of lush harmonies and clear references to prog classics such as GENTLE GIANT, YEZDA URFA and the Canterbury Scene. Followed by the atmospheric “Skyslumber”, and “Cloudship”, the soaring prog ballad that YES never wrote, the album then explodes into the dynamic psych-rocker “Empress of the Sun”, a song full of energy and contrast that eventually slides into a keyboard lead middle part that is reminiscent of THE DOORS at their most adventurous.
The closing part of “Book III” begins with “Lost in the Palace Gardens” a track that starts off with a beautiful acoustic guitar part that not only brings to mind British folk bands such as STEELEYE SPAN, but also the guitar work of a certain JIMMY PAGE. The track follows up with vocal parts where the voices of Andreas Prestmo and Aleksandra Morozova flawlessly complement each other, making it a perfect culmination of this highly ambitious body of work.
Tracklisting on “The Songs & Tales of Airoea – Book III” (which follows on directly from Books I and II) is as follows:
13. Magical Chronicle
14. Skyslumber
15. Cloudship
16. Empress of the Sun
17. Lost in the Palace Gardens
18. Epilogue
Rising from the remains of the band FANGORN, and Inspired mainly by the classic bands and albums that were part of the 1970s progressive music scene, THE CHRONICLES OF FATHER ROBIN emerged during 1993 – 94, coming up alongside contemporaries such as ÄNGLAGÅRD, ANEKDOTEN, WHITE WILLOW and LANDBERK.
Featuring a veritable all-star team of members drawn from some of the most revered progressive rock bands from Norway – WOBBLER, JORDSJØ, TUSMØRKE and seasoned post-rockers THE SAMUEL JACKSON FIVE, it took thirty years for TCOFR to complete their concept Trilogy.
The result is a cohesive triple concept album spanning three decades and featuring a total of 18 songs, spread out over three albums. Contributors to the Trilogy include Thomas Kaldhol (MT. MELODIÉ, THE SAMUEL JACKSON FIVE), Lars Fredrik Frøislie (WOBBLER, IN LINGUA MORTUA, WHITE WILLOW), folksinger Aleksandra Morozova (MT. MELODIE, OSLO PHILHARMONIC CHOIR), Kristoffer Momrak (ALWANZATAR, TUSMØRKE, LES FLEURS DU MAL), Håkon Oftung (JORDSJØ) and illustrator Lars Kvernberg.
With “Book I” having been released in September and “Book II” in December of 2023, “Book III” will be available in CD, Digital and LP formats, whilst the complete Trilogy is available as a Deluxe Limited Edition Triple Coloured Vinyl Box Set on Old Oak Records.
Pre-orders are now available from:
Webshop: https://www.karismarecords.no/shop/
Bandcamp: https://fatherrobin.bandcamp.com
US Webshop: https://karismarecords.indiemerch.com
More information about THE CHRONICLES OF FATHER ROBIN can be found on the band’s website www.fatherrobin.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheChroniclesofFatherRobin
