Green Darkness

Green Carnation are from Kristiansand, Norway. They formed in 1990, but did not release their first album until 2000. This is because shortly after having formed as Green Carnation, main composer Tchort left the band to join Emperor. The rest of the band continued/restarted under a new name: In the Woods. Tchort decided to restart the band after In the Woods disbanded, including some old In the Woods members back into the band. They released their debut, "Journey to the End of the Night" in 2000, a 70 minute concept album, inspired by the tragic loss of Tchort's daughter. The result was an emotionally laden, folk-inspired, Progressive/Doom opus which took over 6 months of rehearsals before recording began, then a further 2 years before it was finally released, through German label, Prophecy Productions…

CeeLo Green has never made a bad album, and isn’t about to change his ways with Heart Blanche, which overflows with positive energy. The key track is “Est. 1980s”, a euphoric celebration of his musical influences, set to the kind of flanged guitar groove popular in an era when “Michael Jackson was king, Aaron Neville was God, and Run DMC looked just like me”. The period influence is confirmed by the sampled Taxi theme used for “Sign of the Times”, and by the departed comics (Belushi, Pryor, Williams) eulogised in “Robin Williams”, his tribute to the late comedian. Elsewhere, “Mother May I” suggests the teenage CeeLo straining at the parental leash, while “Music to My Soul” offers uplift to those “living in darkness”. The standard dips slightly in the later stages, but the grooves throughout are sleek and snappy, and CeeLo himself has rarely sounded better.