Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

With a band name like THE CHRONICLES OF FATHER ROBIN (TCOFR for short) and an album with the title “The Songs & Tales of Airoea – Book 1”, your guess would be that you will be stepping into the realms of fantasy. And indeed you would be right, as you will discover on the 15 September when Karisma Records, in tandem with TCOFR’s own label, Old Oak Records, releases the band’s debut album onto an unsuspecting public.

Intrigued?  Well, before delving deeper into the album itself, and the artists behind it, how about listening to a taster to get you into the swing of things, and where better than by heading to your favourite service to download or stream the track “Eleision Forest” from the album which you will find at THIS LOCATION.

“Eleision Forest” is a journey of close to 12 minutes and combines the energy  of classic 70’s hard rock, with the earthbound authenticity of folksy and pastoral music, along with the sky-soaring climaxes reminiscent of those you will find on old prog relics in your forefathers collection.

Expect to hear hard rocking guitars, a rhythm section on fire with grooves like Bonham, acoustic soundscapes, lush vocal harmonies of the male and female variety, and a wide array of flutes, organs and mellotrons, all on a track that was chosen by the band itself to act as an introduction to TCOFR.

As TCOFR explains: 

With its roots in a high school lecture on Greek Mythology “Eleision Forest”, was actually the song that started the whole concept back in 1993. And from the dense woodlands of this epic,  the path of Father Robin has meandered its way the length and breadth of Airoea these last 30 years. It seems fitting, therefore that “Eleision Forest” should receive the honour of introducing the band and our album trilogy to the world.

Inspired by the classic bands and albums of the early 1970s progressive music scene, as well as  contemporary bands such as ÄNGLAGÅRD, ANEKDOTEN, WHITE WILLOW and LANDBERK,  TCOFR was formed by WOBBLER frontman Andreas W. S. Prestmo, who was joined by childhood friends Jon and Henrik, with whom Prestmo shared a joint interest in folk tales, mythology, fantasy literature, psychedelia and adventurous music.

The final pieces of the puzzle fell into place with contributions from 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.

As the title suggests,  “The Songs & Tales of Airoea – Book 1”, is the first part of a trilogy set in the land of Airoea, and follows the story of the entity known as Father Robin, a mystical being that embodies all the members of the band. As each member met the challenges in their lives and grew as individuals, so the fantastical story of Father Robin and his travels through Airoea took shape.

The first recording sessions started at Bekk Studios in Jæren,  and the  whole of “The Songs & Tales of Airoea” Trilogy took 13 years to complete. It comprises a total of 16 songs spread out over the three albums. 

“The Songs & Tales of Airoea – Book 1” will be released on Karisma Records in CD, Digital and Black Vinyl versions, whilst Old Oak Records will release a Deluxe Limited Edition coloured triple vinyl box set.  Tracklisting is as follows:

01. Prologue
02. The Tale for Father Robin
03. Eleision Forest
04. Death of the Fair Maiden
05. Twilight Fields
06. Unicorn

“The Songs & Tales of Airoea – Book 1” can be preordered from:
 
Webshop: https://www.karismarecords.no/shop/
US Webshop: https://karismarecords.indiemerch.com/
Bandcamp: https://fatherrobin.bandcamp.com/album/the-songs-tales-of-airoea-book-1

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