Totally recommended the Night Flight Orchestra should be investigated with immediate urgency.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: The Night Flight Orchestra
ALBUM: Amber Galactic
LABEL: Nuclear Blast
SERIAL: NB 4010-2
YEAR: 2017
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Sweden
LINEUP: Bjorn Strid – vocals * Sharlee D’ Angelo – bass * David Andersson – guitar * Richard Larsson – keyboards * Jonas Kallsback – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Midnight Flyer * 02 Star Of Rio * 03 Gemini * 04 Sad State Of Affairs * 05 Jennie * 06 Domino * 07 Josephine * 08 Space Whisperer * 09 Something Mysterious * 10 Saturn In Velvet * 11 Just Another Night
RATING: 100/100
WEBLINKS: NFO FB Page
Background
The Night Flight Orchestra have been around for about five years now, and seem to be getting better by the album. As a result, I’ve gone on a bit of a catalogue collection and picked up everything that they’ve released to date. This latest 2017 release is a blatant pomp bombast of the best kind, and for anyone looking to recreate late 70’s space pomp then ‘Amber Galactic’ has it in spades.
It’s the Night Flight Orchestra first major label release through Nuclear Blast Records, with their prior releases appearing on the Coroner Records label. It’s a bit of an unusual pairing to be honest, NFO aren’t really a metal band as per Nuclear Blast’s modus operandi, though in saying that, Swiss outfit Gotthard are an NB signing too, and they aren’t really metal either! Go figure.
The Songs
The opener ‘Midnight Flyer’ pulses along in the same fashion as Groundstar at their cosmic best, as per their classic ‘It’s All The Same Up There’, while ‘Gemini’ and ‘Sad State Of Affairs’ even invoke some Balance like precision into the mix.
‘Jennie’ introduces a symphonic element to good effect, and by the midway point, the album is warming up rather nicely. I love the funky smooth grooves of ‘Domino’, which sounds like it is sourced from some 70’s lounge club. ‘Josephine’ is the definite AOR moment, fusing the likes of Balance and Snowball in a 70’s styled mash-up. Love it.
‘Space Whisperer’ picks up the tempo noticeably, it’s followed by the mid tempo ‘Something Mysterious’, which is probably the first time the band have eased up. We’re getting towards the end now, two tracks to go and there’s no stopping this band. ‘Saturn In Velvet’ is another symphonic workout, like E.L.O on steroids. The closing ‘Just Another Night’ shifts slightly to an AOR direction, especially the radio friendly chorus and sax solo.
In Summary
Every song has its own point of interest, which makes for an entertaining listen throughout. I can’t recommend this album highly enough, especially to regular readers of this website who know the sort of music that we try to promote. Fans of pomp and symphonic rock should investigate the Night Flight Orchestra with immediate urgency.
