Erik XI

by Zel Quartet

By the end of my stay here, I start to discover some bands from Porvoo. At least I think they are from Porvoo. Zel Quartet is one. The other day I saw an old (two or three year old?) poster of them on the wall close to the town centre. (Which made me think that either nobody dared to paste anything over or the glue used for the latter posters was of inferior quality.)

The title of the album sounds like a name of an Old Norse king but I think it simply reflects the fact that the bandleader, Erik Lindroth, wrote eleven compositions (if you count Spacetip — Introduction and Spacetip as one). In any case, Viking metal it ain’t. The music is more like “old-school” jazz-rock, which is surprising as that the band members appear in their late 20s or early 30s. All in all, a very impressive debut album, recorded in just three days. I have been listening to it for about a week now and I am still not bored.

Any reservations? Well, somebody should have proofread the liner notes. Given that you are highly unlikely to buy the real CD, this should be the least of your worries.

Erik XI

Spacetip — Introduction Spacetip (Beck’s Slide) — inspired by Jeff Beck Octa B (GB Octaves) — inspired by George Benson Jimmy Zep — inspired by Jimmy Page sCo — inspired by John Scofield Mindflick Too Slow To Part M Drop — inspired by John McLaughlin Wes — inspired by Wes Montgomery Thoughts Of You — inspired by Al DiMeola Six Through Eight Shifting Zel Quartet is: Erik “Zerick” Lindroth: guitar Lasse Rantanen: bass Mikko Seppä: keys Wille Granö: drums All songs written by Erik Lindroth Arrangement: Lindroth, Rantanen, Seppä, Granö Recorded live between 6 and 9.8.2012 Recording engineer: Jonas “Blomman” Blomqvist Producer: Erik Lindroth Custom Music Records © & ℗ 2013