Michael Aadal's first delicately arpeggiated minor chord sets the scene and there is indeed a modally minor inflection to the entire album. But rather than induce pathos, it lends a pensive solemnity to this spellbinding music. The band's second album, Abigail (the first was Desertion in 2008), portrays a journey through nature, lovingly crafted and driven by a group of outstanding musicians. Appropriately for a Norwegian production, the arrangements provide expansive breathing space and once entranced, you are transported to an ethereal world, which releases your mind from the humdrum and the hackneyed.