ITCH THE SEVEN-YEAR
After a seven-year absence, Seven Impale are back with their third album, the Enslavedapproved Summit. But, despite their name, a delay of that length certainly wasn’t intentional. The Norwegian sextet bring Prog up to date on their current four-track, which embraces the myths of Ancient Greece and uses them as a metaphor for the trials of modern society.
Words: Julian Marszalek
Seven Impale, L-R: Stian Økland, Benjamin, Mekki Widerøe, Tormod Fosso, Fredrik Mekki Widerøe, Erlend Vottvik Olsen, Håkon Vinje.
Portrait: Martin Aadland
“When we make music, we’re depending on every member of the band to do his part. It would feel wrong if three of us got together and made half a record and then waited for the rest of the guys.”
Tormod Fosso
"I don't seven years,” says Seven Impale saxophonist Benjamin Mekki Widerøe as he ponders the considerable gap between the band’s album releases. “Our last album, Contrapasso, was made at a point where we had more free time, I think. Most of us were studying or working part time. And there were no children involved. So yeah, we had more time then to make music and just record albums and keep the ball rolling.”
Almost following to the letter John Lennon’s famed observation that “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans”, the six members of this Norwegian prog jazz behemoth found themselves recalling the advice of Enslaved drummer Iver Sandøy, who produced both their 2014 debut album, City Of The Sun, and Contrapasso. (He’s also credited with mixing and mastering their latest.)