Adventure are a Norwegian threesome who on their self-produced debut album have combined eight songs under the name of "The Motherland" whilst another ten are grouped as "Seasons". Having recorded this material over a period of three years, Adventure combines prog metal with a fair amount of medieval elements and Viking spirit. Fans of Blackmore’s Night will certainly be pleased with this disc as it also highlights the use of acoustic guitars back-to-back with electric escapades. The use of flute and mandolin certainly do the music a lot of justice. With half of the music being pure instrumental this band has found the perfect balance to keep everyone happy. The flute in the opening track "Rivers Of Gold" is kind of used to step from the powerful section to the more intimate vocal part. "Longing From Home" is a wonderful instrumental with a nice Procol Harum-type organ throughout topped by Oldfield-like guitar. "The Wee Hours" kind of sees the band in a medieval pub drinking away their sorrows. With "Into The Dream" the band almost steps into Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow with a song that holds the atmosphere of "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" before it gets more rhythmic adding great synths and guitar. Even more Oldfield-like guitar sneaks into the epic "New Adventures," which sadly is badly produced, losing a lot of detail in the mix. This detail finally returns with the short instrumental "Sunrise," a duet between classical guitar and flute. "Last Days Of Summer" sounds very solemn, sporting a piano which seems to settle between two guitars and choir. Certainly a beautiful track. With "Winter Storm/A New Day" it looks like the band can’t make up their mind, as one time they care for prog and the other for authentic metal. I was rather pleased and enthusiastic when I first heard this album, yet the more I listen to it the more doubts I have and the more shortcomings I hear. These guys have taken from June ’96 till November ’99 to record and a further four months to mix! I bet they have recorded some of the songs over and over again criticising themselves throughout the entire recording process. They should have released their first album somewhere in ’97 and learn from what the critics had to say. With this information they should have entered the studio a second time. Let the public decide what’s good and bad, not yourselves! Also an outside producer in this case wouldn’t be a luxury. Fans of Blackmore’s Night, Jethro Tull and Tempest nevertheless will have a new name to add to their evergrowing list of must haves. Reveiwed by: John 'Bo Bo' Bollenberg
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