Trubrot - Undir Ahrifum (Reissue) (1970/2009)

The second album by early-'70s Icelandic group Trúbrot marks a significant change in their sound, the result of extensive personnel upheaval. While the band was originally the combination of members from some of Iceland's biggest bands, Hljómar and Flowers, their female vocalist, Shady Owens, departed before the album was recorded, as did organist Karl Sighvatsson and drummer Gunnar Jökull Hákonarson. The two remaining members, Gunnar Pordarson and Rúnnar Júlíusson, found two replacements and moved forward as a quartet. The band's earlier sound, which mixed '60s pop with occasionally heavy boogie in the vein of Deep Purple or Led Zeppelin, was largely abandoned on Undir Áhrifum, in favor of a looser, folkier sound based on vocal harmonies. Many songs recall Crosby, Stills & Nash with their multi-part vocals and jangling acoustic guitars, while others -- "Tracks" in particular -- sound very influenced by Rod Stewart's work with the Faces, and the nearly 11-minute "Feel Me," with its liturgical organ and hammering drums, sounds like Uriah Heep at their most depressive. In another major shift, almost all the lyrics are in English, rather than Icelandic, something that was controversial in their homeland at the time. This is a strong example of early-'70s progressive rock, recommended to fans of the type of thing the Shadoks label typically unearths and puts out.