The Legend Of Ragnarok - Kiwi Psych Space Prog Rock, Anyone?

Ragnarok definitely defied the odds during their existence. That a bar band touring the backwater bar circuit of the North Island would become New Zealand's premier prog rock outfit, all while losing their co-lead vocalist halfway through doesn't sound like a receipe for success. And real, palpable success wasn't forthcomung for the remaining Rangarok quartet, so after a third album failed to take shape, the band called it quits. But for five years and two albums following back to back in 1975 and 1976 Ragnarok were the premier space rock band from New Zealand, having a repertoire ranging from repetitive drones to harder edged rock, incorporating psychedelic elements. During their bar band days they played faithful Led Zeppelin, Yes and Pink Floyd covers, while slowly developing their owwn compoistions, all the while upping the stakes in the make-up and costumes department to somewhat profit from the popular glam rock stylings of the day. 

Female lead singer Lea Maalfrid had a powerful voice, but I generally prefer the lead vocals of her male colleagues. Nothing chauvinist about that, but her voice sometimes has this showtune belting thing to it that I'm not fond of. I'd rather prefer the fuzzy, floating Ragnarok with equally fuzzy and floating, sometime bordering on lazy, vocals from Ramon York. I really like "Fenris", their debut album's opener, where Maalfrid sounds menacing and eerie rather than showboating, the same is true for her second vocal appearance on "Fire On Sky". The incessant touring got to,Maalfrid, so she left after the debut album, with the remaining quartet completing Nooks. 

Simple but effective: the great cover art for their first album

A trio of songs from Nooks - "The Volsung", "Semolina" and "Paths Of Remembrance" - remind me of  the peaceful, friendly Pink Floyd of Obscured By Clouds - my favorite Floyd - having the same mellow, drifting vibe and acoustic backbone. Speaking of the Floyd: Ragnarok harken back to their old days of with a 16 minute+ medley of essentially the entire second side of The Dark Side Of The Moon. I dubbed that track "Dark Side Too", and the mimicry of the band is astounding, they really come quite close to the real thing. The other cover taken from a live recording is a Rory Erickson tune, with the lively "I Fall Apart" reminding people that these guys started out as a bar band called Sweetfeet.

Long form tracks "Dream", "Raga", "Nooks" and "Rainbow Bridge" have been edited for this collection, which splits pretty evenly between the self-titled debut and Nooks, plus the two live tracks. This is probably all the Ragnarok you need, or at the very least a really nice teaser to let you check out this fascinating little band. So get ready, folks, for the twilight of the gods... 

Glitter, make-up, fancy costumes...sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do...