Before you listen to the Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue's distinctive new CD, the group's name reveals that you're in store for some unique sounds from Kentucky's Ron Whitehead, Sarah Elizabeth and Andy Cook (the hillbillies) along with Michael Odin Pollock, a poet and punk rocker from Iceland (the Viking).
The eclectic blend of bluegrass, folk, jazz, blues and alternative music, coupled with spoken word, delivers a global message of peace and hope. With a wide range of influences--from Kentucky mountain life and folk music to Icelandic pagan mythology and rock'n'roll--the music celebrates diversity.
The soulful sound of an aboriginal didgeridoo resonates in the opening track, "Never Give Up," one of several spoken-word pieces penned by Whitehead, an internationally renowned poet and writer. "Loa, Loa, Loa" is a wonderfully rhythmic song based on the work of Megas, one of Iceland's greatest poets. It's superbly put to music by Pollock, a founding member of Utangardsmenn/Outsiders, a punk band that has been dubbed "Iceland's Best Rock Group of the 20th Century."
A common thread of seeking truth, politically and spiritually, winds through the 12 tracks. From the evocative "Lost and Found" to the moving "Searching for Abraham Lincoln," the Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue seems to have found some interesting answers to life's most-daunting questions.
--Missy Baxter, The Courier-Journal
