We featured Norwegian band 'St Bennett's' a few weeks ago when they released 'Oh Sweet Devil', the tale of the farmer who heads out on to the battlefield following the death of his daughter and wife. Anyway the cheery fables of 'St Bennett's' farmer continue, and 'Avery' is another entertaining musical story from the band who fuse alternative rock anthems with a folk narrative.
So if you didn't read our first feature on 'St Bennetts', well they follow in the footsteps of some rather wonderful (nameless) Bergen bands. They've been around for a while, but the trilogy of the poor farmer seems like the 'official debut' (or certainly relaunch) for the 4 piece, and I think the style of the music and storytelling seems to suit them well. In the latest chapter the farmer seems to be regretting his journey to the battlefield, screaming out to Avery his late wife, whilst the song also challenges the morality of war, with the unstable Captain highlighting the strange Chain of Commands in these situations - I imagine his leader to be akin to General Melchett in Blackadder Goes Forth, if that makes any sense to any of you....
Anyway musically it's pretty interesting too, with a dramatic guitar intro and a somewhat inevitably slow build up of instrumentation until it reveals a huge impassioned melodic anthem as the centrepiece of the track. I do really like this, even if I'm not sure it's quite as appealing as 'Oh Sweet Devil', but hey can anyone name a trilogy where the 2nd part is the best part?
This is 'Avery':
Of course some of you might argue that this whole story by 'St Bennett's' is slightly absurd, and you'd be right, which is why we very much look forward to Part 3 of the tales of the unfortunate farmer, due later this year.
