dreadpirateroberts On their self titled album, 'Moose Loose,' led by guitarist Eberson, a pretty good debut is presented. 'Aggressive' is a fair description of what they do for the most part, it's a pretty powerful set of sounds, where drummer Thowsen, keyboardist Blix and Eberson himself seem to struggle for dominance. While channelling The Mahavishnu Orchestra helps establish the sense of forcefulness, there a little bit of subtlety here and there, but it’s still an album that packs a punch. I can imagine that they’d have been a great live band.

‘Eber’s Funk’ typical of their hard approach, both sonically and compositionally. It’s a great opening shot, but it seems as if the engineer was told to keep things ‘just about in the red’, so there’s a sense that every instrument (save the bass) isn’t too far from peaking. It does add a sense of rawness that’s in stark contrast with a lot of the slicker fusion the followed the early 1970s, and perhaps borrows from the rock side of the music world. Featuring a great Eberson solo and some frantic drumming, this one is a winner. ‘B.M’ reminds me quite strongly of The Mahavishnu Orchestra again, and I’d actually recommend this album from Moose Loose to fans of TMO’s debut. ‘Flytende Øye’ continues the attack and gives a lot of room to Blix’s electric keys, while ‘Skakke Jens’ is more of a jam than a showcase. The piece feels a little awkward, as though the band were just a little too excited about the ‘stop-start’ approach and pushed the idea beyond its value.

Closing the album is the almost delicate ‘O Kjød’, starting off with unaccompanied piano and featuring Eberson on acoustic guitar. He takes his time with his lead work here and the duet never becomes a race, it’s a pleasant contrast to the rest of the album.

This Norwegian group would follow up with ‘Transition’ which is less charging and has a cleaner production, but here it’s much more blistering. If you like your fusion a raw then have a look here. A good album rather than something game changing or stunning.