Bjørn Riis - Forever Comes to an End

Bjørn Riis, the mastermind of the Norwegian atmospheric rock band Airbag, returns with his sophomore solo release, 3 years after his debut. It is true that Bjørn has “mastered” the art of atmospheric emotional music all these years as he has been “taught” by the best of the best – Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons, Porcupine Tree and so on. Then again, some of the tracks here could have easily been on an Airbag album, but Bjørn knows better and he also keeps some fine tracks for his solos releases.
 
“Forever Comes to an End” is an atmospheric album for the most part, but Bjorn has chosen to change the tempos of a few tracks so as to offer more variety and not bore the listener at long last. Thus, the homonymous track and “Getaway” have a mid-tempo, without losing their atmospheric essence though, but they do not move in slow melancholy paths. Personally, I fancy “Getaway” a lot and I think that it is one of the best tracks Bjørn has delivered all these years. One more thing is that this album has several instrumental tracks, such as the aforementioned one.
 
The production is full and clear. The album was produced by Bjørn himself and engineered & mastered by long-time collaborator Vegard Kleftas Sleipnes. The album also features guest appearances from Henrik Fossum (Airbag) on drums, Asle Tostrup on programming, Simen Valldal Johannessen (OAK) on piano, and vocals by the Norwegian singer Sichelle Mcmeo Aksum.
 
Those who like atmospheric albums and cannot get enough of them better check “Forever Comes to an End”, cuz Bjørn has proven again and again that he is a charismatic songwriter and musician who can deliver absorbing atmospheric music on the whole…