ALBUM REVIEW: All The Better For Seeing You – Bushman’s Revenge

BUSHMAN’S REVENGE‘s 11th album coincides with their 20th twentieth anniversary as a band. The jazz-rock trio from Norway have released ten critically acclaimed albums so far in their career and have played at least 300 live performances. They don’t only mix rock and jazz, but a multitude of sounds, creating a unique blend of music that is all theirs and is best exemplified on their new album All The Better For Seeing You.

The first of the album’s six tracks is Halvannen Time (an hour and a half, more than enough), which is a slow jazz number. It gets the record off to a calming start with a slow-paced guitar riff that plays constantly throughout the song. Last Cup Of Zorro adds more drums and bass, allowing each member of the band to play to their strengths. This continues throughout the album. Hallowed Be Thy Fame is a ten-minute epic that increases in pacing as the song goes on. It includes a lot of guitars, drums and bass and there is a slower section of music around halfway through that builds up the pacing again.

The album contains no vocals whatsoever, which means all the instruments can be heard in all their glory. Take the song Raptus Norvegicus, for example – a joyous 12-minute epic full of guitar solos, drums solos and a build up at the start and a slow fade away at the end that shows just how easily the band can fill 12 minutes.

With all the songs changing paces throughout their runtimes, the overall pacing of the album remains steady, as most songs tend to start slow, get faster in pace, and then slow down. Despite this being a bit of a formula, the songs themselves sound individual and unique. Even the shorter tracks are all between four and five minutes, and the longer runtimes give them enough breathing space to experiment with different sounds. They do this very well, as each song has its own identity, but also allows itself to be a part of a larger sound.

In conclusion, BUSHMAN’S REVENGE have carried on with their winning formula. Eleven albums in, they haven’t lost momentum, and this album proves it. All The Better For Seeing You is fun, unique and highly enjoyable. Its blend of rock and jazz is sure to please fans of both genres. All the songs work well together and individually, and even though they’re all quite long, there aren’t so many tracks that the album drags on. If you are a fan of jazz or are looking to get introduced to the genre, then All The Better For Seeing You is the perfect place to get started.

Rating: 9/10

All The Better For Seeing You is out now via Is It Jazz? Records.

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