Arabs In Aspic: A sweet mixture of loud, heavy guitars and drums, 12 string acoustics, funky bass and percussion….

The second album Far Out In Aradabia from Arabs In Aspic will be re-released early in June and of course Jacob Holm-Lupo do the re-mastering, simply because he is wizard regarding re-mastering!

Arabs In Aspic emerged in 1997 from Norway led by guitarist and vocalist Jostein Smeby and rhythm guitarist & Theremin player, Tommy Ingebrigsten. Since they met through their common love for 1970s heavy rock music, they’ve been playing together with different personnel, each playing different kinds of heavy music until Arabs In Aspic surged.

They said goodbye to playing covers and the band was ready with Hammond organ player Mysterious Magnar A, drummer Eskil Nyhus and his brother, bass player Terje Nyhus. They later re-named themselves Arabs In Aspic due to the replacement of Terje Nyhus.

Their wide range of influences make a very rewarding listen, including stoner-rock music, 60s psychedelic rock, and the 70s heavy weights, with prime influences being Black Sabbath and Wetton-era King Crimson hence their name). Fans of any of those bands won’t regret listening to these guys.

Hailing from Trondheim in Norway, Arabs in Aspic has been mid-Norway’s flagship of 70s inspired progressive rock and proto-hard rock for the past 15 years. They’ve been described as a sweet mixture of loud, heavy guitars and drums, 12 string acoustics, funky bass and percussion, screaming Hammond organs, soft Rhodes, Mellotrons and 70s Synths, topped with plentiful vocal harmonies.

The second release from Arabs in Aspic was Far Out In Aradabia, which was released in 2004 on CD only. In their humble start, the band can be described as a mixture of the psychedelic space rock akin to Hawkwind and the heaviness and darkness of early Black Sabbath. However, the song writing was beginning to become bolder and more adventurous, and they even enlisted a keyboard player.

The musical inspirations became broader as well, and here they really started venturing into the land of progressive rock. The last track was a studio jam where they played for 65 minutes and edited it down to 19 mintues. This was also the first album they used Julia Proszowzka to do the artwork, who they’ve worked with ever since.

The band played a lot of concerts after the album, but with some complications during the writing and recording, the band dissolved in 2006. Now, only Jostein Smeby and Eskil Nyhus are left of the original line-up, and Tommy Ingebrigtsen and Terje Nyhus has recently started The Flying Norsemen, an Arabs in Aspic tribute band. The album is recorded at Børse Studio in Trondheim and as mentioned above re-mastered by Jacob Holm-Lupo.

Tracklist:

Arabs in Aspic II

Seventytwo / Hair of the Sun

Siseneg

Talking Mushroom

Come to Me

Butterpriest Jam

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