Hailing from Noway, AVKRVST are a progressive rock band whose ambitious arrangements and weighty subject matter have earned them an impressive reputation in prog circles. Following on from the band’s well-received 2022 debut, The Approbation, to which Waving At The Sky serves as a prequel, the album finds the band further advancing their sound, drawing upon a wider range of influences and showcasing an advanced evolution that is breathtaking in its scope.
The album emerges from a haze of synth strings to hit hard with the stabbing riffs and tightly wound drums of Preceding. A multi-layered piece that finds the band deftly weaving guitar lines together as a spoken word passage slowly emerges from its core, it serves as a dizzying introduction to the band’s sound before segueing into the The Trauma. A heavier piece, with its syncopated rhythms and airy guitars, it welds elements of Opeth, King Crimson, and Porcupine Tree into a coherent whole that bristles with energy, bolstered immeasurably by a flawless production that places you right at the track’s heart.
Following the beguiling opening gambit, the band spread their wings still further with the sweeping beauty of Families Are Forever. A mesmerising piece that takes its melodic cues from early Genesis, it evolves in front of the listener as bassist Øystein Aadland and exceptional drummer Martin Utby lock into an angular groove. Atmospheric and compelling, by the time Simon Bergseth allows his blackened roar full reign, the listener has already found themselves lost within the song’s echoing hallways and vast chambers. The track wends its way across a conflicted musical landscape, before wrapping up in a haze of mellotron worthy of In The Court Of The Crimson King. In contrast the gleaming introduction to Conflating Memories zips forward a few years to dig into soundscapes last seen on The Bends, the rimshot rhythm and clean guitar lines keeping the listener guessing as to where the track will head next. One of those pieces that builds steadily, adding vocal harmonies, flaming riffs, and flute, it’s beautifully paced, underscoring the range of influences to which the band can lay claim.
With the album proving impressively inventive, the band adopt a heavier posture on recently released single The Malevolent Feat, which has a strong Opeth pulse amidst its dizzying rhythms and progressive melodies. Eerie ambience abounds on Ghosts Of Yesteryear, a suitably haunting track that crosses modern metal with the evocative strains of a horror soundtrack. Having established its presence, however, the track is both striking and vital, delivered with fire by a band at the peak of their not inconsiderable skills.
The album ends with its title track – a twelve-minute finale that builds upon everything that has preceded it to deliver a musically and emotionally satisfying conclusion. Once more, the influences are wide and varied, from the emotional resonance of Radiohead and Porcupine Tree to the complex progressive rock of King Crimson and Opeth. A true masterclass, Waving At The Sky is both brilliantly played and produced, leaving you somewhat in awe and more than a little curious as to where the band can possibly head next.
Where progressive rock all too often signals a reliance on the past, AVKRVST take their influences and mould them into compelling new shapes. As such, while the likes of Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree, Radiohead and Opeth are all referenced, it’s with a mixture of reverence and evolutionary sprit that finds AVKRVST predominantly looking forward rather than back. Where they go next is anybody’s guess but, for now, we have Waving At The Sky, and that is more than enough cause to celebrate. 9.5/10
