If my memory serves right, I first discovered Flight while skimming through Fenriz’s namesake Fenriz Metal playlist on Spotify. Yes, I am one of those NPCs who pays $16.99 a month (or whatever rate it is now) for streaming access to all of my favorite bands and albums. In the same breath, I also never stopped buying physical media and this webzine does quite a service getting the word out there for underground bands and artists, so eat me. Back to the point at hand, it was a song off Flight’s sophomore album, A Leap Through Matter, which caught my attention and subsequently led to exploring their work.
Fast forward 5 years later and I am of the disposition that A Leap Through Matter is one of the finest metal albums of the ’10s, if only for its unique sound and approach. You see, Flight is a metal band who aren’t actively trying to be metal. They’re not afraid to be heavy when a song calls for it, but they also have no shame incorporating non-metal influences, drawing from outside genres like prog rock, space rock, AOR, and so forth. Furthermore, even their metallic moments seem drawn from the proggier outreaches of the NWOBHM, i.e. Saracen and the more ambitious moments of Angel Witch.
Their third and latest album, Echoes of Journeys Past, is about as appropriately titled as it can get. The entire album feels like a 70s time warp, without coming off as an emotionless rehash of what once was like certain throwback outfits do. Flight pour their heart and soul into their songwriting and musicality, grabbing the listener from the opening power surge of “Hyapatia”. The balance between no frills headbanger mania and mystical uncertainty on this song is incredible, setting the tone for a truly distinctive and unforgettable release.
“Valley of the Moon” marries the progressive adventurism of Rush with the occult pop metal mysticism of late 70s BÖC, a spellbinding display of heavy meets soft, while “Path to Nowhere (Elysian Fields)” proves poppy hard rock is more than mindless teeny bopper fodder. If epic metal existed in the 70s outside of the sporadic fantasy themed Zeppelin suite, it would sound like the title track, and “Comet of Gold” stands out for its breezy, Californian atmosphere, its chords and melodies characteristic of America and Seals and Crofts before revving up for the outro. Rounding it all out is “Mystic Mountain”: A nearly 10 minute heavy prog jam with absolutely blistering guitar work (The Skynyrd boys would be proud!).
Yet again, Flight have created a retro metal masterpiece of colossal proportions. Much like its predecessor, there are so many sounds and styles explored on this album that you’re bound to discover something new every time you spin it. If it takes another 5 years for Flight to conceive a canon of this caliber, then it’s well worth the weight. There’s no doubt these nostalgic Norwegians will be flying their way to the top ranks of our 2023 year end list.
10 out of 10
Label: Dying Victims Productions
Genre: Heavy Metal/Hard Rock
For fans of: Night, Wytch Hazel, Blue Öyster Cult