Expressive power, glowing intimacy, lyrical ecstasy.
Fire! was formed in 2009 by the trio Mats Gustafsson, baritone sax, Johan Berthling, bass and Andreas Werliin drums with an aspiration to develop and approach the source of improvised music itself. This with influences from free jazz, psychedelic rock and noise. Over the years they have released seven trio albums and appeared countless times on the major stages for jazz and improvised music around the world.
In 2013 the trio grew into the Fire! Orchestra. 28 musicians, from the Scandinavian improvisation and rock scene were handpicked for this gigantic project that has toured and released a number of albums. Including Arrival and most recently Echoes, a triple album with 43 musicians that was released last year.
The trio’s eighth album, Testament, was released on February 23 on Rune Grammofon, and is characterized by a stripped-down search for the innermost core of music, the essence of music, without flutes or wind instruments, no electronics, no guest musicians, nothing extra, as if life’s flow of impulses had been channeled into an organic form, and then released again. Recorded live in the studio of Steve Albini, Electrical Audio in Chicago, on analog tape.