It’s not often that you find multiple genres on a single album (outside of loose compilations, of course). And it’s even rarer for two bands with contrasting styles to each provide one half of an album. But that’s what the Norwegian bands, Jordsjø and Breidablik, give us with Kontraster. And to challenge prospective listeners even further, the two full-side tracks carry the same name as the parent album. If there are other recording collections in which every tune is a title track, I haven’t come across them.

Jordsjø provides the progressive rock first half; Breidablik contributes electronic music for the second. On the first side, we have a piece that neatly stitches together passages of experimental piano, heavy rock and light acoustic guitar into an attractive work of sonic art – well-tailored progressive rock with a hint of Gentle Giant flair. And, on the other side, over a ground of pulsing electronica from the Berlin School, we are offered a sparkling kaleidoscope of sounds – ambient overall, but with ever-changing textures.

On Kontraster, in the same way that a red umbrella in a canopy of green makes an artful picture, so the two bands have combined different shades of music to create a harmonious and thoroughly enjoyable whole.