The Approbation AVKRVST

• 1 Østerdalen 00:26
• 2 The Pale Moon 06:15
• 3 Isolation 05:41
• 4 The Great White River 06:30
• 5 Arcane Clouds 06:05
• 6 Anodyne 10:15
• 7 The Approbation 13:37
• Total Runtime 48:49

Info for The Approbation

AVKRVST was founded by Martin Utby and Simon Bergseth - two musicians and friends who grew up together and made a pact that they would form a band when they got older. Now, 22 years later, an album is ready: 49 minutes of music inspired by everything they grew up listening to - everything from Mew, Anekdoten and Porcupine Tree to Opeth, Neal Morse and King Crimson.

The Approbation is a concept album about a bleak soul who is left solely with his thoughts, isolated on a cabin deep into the dark forests, far away from civilization. The album takes the listener through the thoughts of a man struggling towards the acceptance of death, being hauled into the abyss. Sonically, ‘The Approbation’ is a massive sounding piece of music: It’s everything from lush, melancholy moods to heavy, more aggressive atmospheres. It tries to capture the feeling of a cold, gloomy fall - a dark sky, filled with gazing stars above the mist.

The whole album was written and recorded at a cabin in Alvdal (Norway) during a rainy, cold fall and winter. Throughout the album you can catch the sounds of rain and a trains horn from far away, which are actual sounds recorded outside the cabin at night under the stars.

The artwork of The Approbation is a piece of mastermind Eliran Kantor, who has this to say about the cover: “I wanted to find the element of time passing during a period of seclusion and self-reflecting in a forest cabin, and thought about the stars above. Everything on the ground is dormant and in slumber, while right above us the universe waits for no one. It correlated nicely with a lot of the lyrics, since in them the sky elements always plays the part that is unstoppable and constantly having an effect on the person below staring up and finding himself swept by the gravity of his surroundings and how they make him reflect inwards.”

Simon Bergseth, vocals
Edvard Seim, guitar
Simon Bergseth, guitar, bass
Auver Gaaren, keyboards
Øystein Aadland, bass, keyboards
Martin Utby, drums, keyboards

AVKRVST
was founded by Martin Utby and Simon Bergseth – two musicians and friends who grew up together and have been playing tons of gigs with all kinds of different bands, but never together – until now.

The band have shared a teaser video of them working in the studio which you can see below.

The band had this to say about the signing: “Signing with InsideOut Music is a childhood dream come true. We’re beyond excited about the journey ahead and ready for the world to hear our music”.

Thomas Waber, InsideOut Music Label manager had this to say: “We are really happy with the signing of Avkrvst, a young new band from Norway. I am convinced they will find an audience in the current scene. Looking forward to building a future together”!

At the young age of 7 years old, Martin and Simon made a pact that they would form a band when they got older. Now, 22 years later they’ve done just that. An album is ready – 55 minutes of music inspired by everything they grew up listening to – everything from Mew, Anekdoten and Porcupine Tree to Opeth, Neal Morse and King Crimson.

All the music has been written at a small cabin, deep into the Norwegian forests (Alvdal, Norway). Simon (composer, guitars, bass and vocals) and Martin (composer, drummer and synths) have later been joined by Øystein Aadland on bass/keys, Edvard Seim on guitars and Auver Gaaren on keys.

This album contains no booklet.