Back in the late 1980s, when heavy music was nowhere to be found in Norway, Iceland-born singer Eirikur Hauksson (otherwise known as Eric Hawk) led the country’s one proper metal act, Artch.
A classic “rawk” frontman à la Whitesnake’s David Coverdale, he joined Magic Pie in 2007 and he’s very much the band’s focal point, with his metal DNA still shining through their progressive style. The Pie’s fourth album is their first for a proper label, and with three of its six songs clocking in at over 12 minutes (the title track hitting the 27-minute mark), it proves they don’t shy away from getting epic. Though they can be intimate (listen out for Tears Gone Dry), in places they sound similar to The Flower Kings, albeit with the volume cranked up to 11. Over the years Hauksson has taken part in a Norwegian staging of Jesus Christ Superstar while double-shifting with both a Beatles tribute act and ex-Uriah Heep keyboard player Ken Hensley’s live band, so here you’ll find a quite busy mixture of heavy, pomp, pop and full-on symphonic prog. Thankfully, it’s delivered by pros who have both the talent and the tact required to let it all flow without a glitch.
