Panzerpappa - Farlig Vandring

Norwegian band, Panzerpappa, came into existence in 1996 as a solo alter ego for drummer Tront Gjellum’s solo project.  Tront felt that his name would not be the most memorable so came up with the name Panzerpappa, which although an invented word, could be taken to mean ‘armoured daddy’ (literally translating the German ‘panzer’ and Norwegian ‘pappa’).  Things moved on in 1999 when Panzerpappa became a fully-fledged band and, after a couple of personnel changes, has maintained the same line up since early 2002. 

Fans of Canterbury legend Richard Sinclair may recognise the name of Tront Gjellum as Tront, along with Jarle G. Storløkken (guitars) and Anders K. Krabberød (bass, Chapman Stick), was in Richard’s backing band in 2002 when he performed in Norway I believe.  In fact, that occasion led Tront to invite Jarle and Anders to join Panzerpappa.

Farlig Vandring (Hazardous Hiking) is the third release by Panzerpappa.  The music follows the RIO style along the lines of Henry Cow in places but with a greater sense of direction.  Melodies are nearly always there, which isn’t always the case for RIO and time changes and tempo cross between jazz, fusion and prog.  Saxophones (Steinar Borve) and never far away yet prog style keyboards also feature.

As you might expect, percussion plays a big roll alongside bass and not just drums; Trond plays a variety of instruments including Glockenspiel.  The variety of styles is perhaps best reflected in the third track on this six-track album.  Utrygge Trofler (Troubling Truffles) encompasses prog rock alongside jazz and RIO with delightful melodies and those little touches that make for a perfect recipe.

Farlig Vandring is complex but, unlike a lot of RIO, is very accessible.  Progressive jazz and prog fans, particularly those into the Hatfields, Gryphon, Gong, Zappa and perhaps Gentle Giant should definitely check this one out.

Jem Jedrzejewski

Panzapappa

www.progrock.no

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