Review: 'Maskineri'

Today, a review : Kaizers Orchestra's latest album, 'Maskineri'.

Sometimes, seemingly out of the blue, a band shows up that has a totally unique sound or style. Either they develop their own thing, or elaborate unexpectedly on an already existing thing. When Kaizers Orchestra appeared in 2000 with their debut full-length 'Ompa til du dør (Ompa till you die) ', they immediately struck a chord with people who seek out the different, the challenging. I read a review of the album and went out and got the album a few days later. Sung entirely in their native Norwegian, the album mixed punk-rock with balkan-folk, guitar solos and lyrics about a gangster dynasty. I was caught right away. And I was along for the next two albums, two eps and a live album taped at a concert I attended! How cool is that! The music remained largely the same. Loud, with solid rhythms (often brought on by oil-can drumming), polka song-structures and far-out lyrics. So far so good. But eventually, most bands with a distinctive style eventually feel a need to further develop on it or experiment with something new. This brings us to Kaizers' 4th full-length album, 'Maskineri (Machinery)'.

What
Fourth album, released by Sony/BMG internationally in February 2008. Same length as the other three albums (all of them last between 42 and 45 minutes), spread out over 12 songs.
Some new instruments, like marimba, have been added to the sound-scape.

The first thing that comes to mind when listening to this album is how quiet it is, compared to their previous albums. There are not as many songs with whacky polka-rhythms as previously, and the oil-can drumming and pump-organ driven backing seems to have generally taken a back-seat to make way for other instruments. The first song 'Moment' does start out with a dominant rhythm, but songs like the delicate 'Den andre er meg (the other is me)' have hardly any rhythm at all but seem to develop kind of randomly. 'Den andre er meg' also features a first for a Kaizers record, a duetting female vocal. Generally the album also feels kind of slow compared to the previous albums, even though it's the same length.
Of course it isn't a total change. Small steps, after all. 'Toxic Blod' and 'Bastard sønn (bastard son)' follow the same pattern as many of the bands most popular songs, and 'Bastard sønn' in particular has some great lyrics.
And while we're on the lyrics, it doesn't seem like Kaizers are much preoccupied with elaborating on their previous story about the mob dynasty. The songs on 'Maskineri' are pretty much individual stories, and do not seem to be about anyone in particular. This is kind of a shame because the twisted stories of their previous albums was very exciting to follow.

My take
This album is the Kaizers album that has taken the longest to get under my skin. I must confess I liked their harder, edgier material better, progress be damned. Initially I was dissapointed, and found only a few songs to cling on to on the album. But it is an album that grows with repeated listening, and the band should be applauded for trying to expand their horizons. I look forward to finding out if this is the new style of the band, or just a temporary creative detour.
I award this album a cautious but recommendable ****** out of 10, because even if they seem to have watered it down a bit, Kaizers style is still innovative and they are still forging ahead with their own vision without much compromise.

Best and worst
The best songs on the album are 'Moment', 'Bastard Sønn' and 'Volvo i Mexico'. These elaborate well on the bands previously laid foundation.
The worst songs are the boring 'Enden av November (The end of November)' and 'Kaizers 115. drøm (Kaizers 115th dream)'. It is fine that the band want to try something new, but songs that are this quiet and don't go anywhere, doesn't seem like the ideal way to go.