Tempest
The Double-Cross
Magna Carta PR-0602 (2006)

Make no mistake about the fact that this is a rock album, driven along by drums and bass. 
But mandolin player Lief Sørbye and fiddler Michael Mullen make absolutely sure that not 
only are Sørbye’s Norwegian and Mullen’s Celtic heritage well represented, but that you 
will also encounter Finnish and Latin American influences. The latter are, in part, imparted 
through the playing of the band’s Cuban drummer Adolfo Lazo.
While I miss the blazing elegance of fiddler Sue Draheim, who appeared on Shapeshifter (2003), 
the return of Michael Mullen is a welcome alternative, and he is a composer to boot. 
(Both Mullen and Draheim still play alternately with Sørbye as the duo Caliban.) Irish guitarist 
Ronan Carroll hews to a progressive rock style and avoids the leaden chop of metal. Sørbye is 
an oddly traditional mandolin plucker; he employs little or no distortion or effects on his 
electric instrument and simply plays the heck out the double-necked contraption.
“Captain Kidd” is the third in Tempest’s “pirate series,” which began with “Captain Morgan” 
and continued with “Captain Ward.” “Kidd” rather uneasily recalls the baroque sound of 
“classic rock” radio perennials Kansas, but things get a bit more exciting after this opener. 
Mullen’s “Slippery Slide” is a muscular guitar workout that brings to mind late 70s Jethro Tull 
with a killer fiddle in the mix. “Black Eddy” is a set of three Sørbye originals and a 
traditional Finnish tune, “Sakijarven Polka.”
“Per Spelmann,” the lone Scandinavian traditional song that Sørbye includes, is a relatively 
low-energy number with lyrics in Norwegian that for most of us rather obscure the humor of 
the story. The album concludes with a set called “Wizard’s Walk” that leads off with a bluesy 
take on “Tam Lin” and segues into a kickin’ version of Jay Ungar’s tune “Wizard’s Walk” that 
is going to leave its composer chuckling about those crazy rock ’n’ roll kids.
— Bill Chaisson (Trumansburg, NY)

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Dirty Linen
The Magazine of Folk and World Music
http://www.dirtylinen.com