F5 Wichita Jedd Beaudoin ---------------- If Balance, Tempest's 2001 release, was a little overfurnished for some, then Shapeshifter, the latest release from this progressive folk/rock collective, is the perfect antidote. Whereas this stormy bunch (led by vocalist/mandolin player Lief Sorbye) sounded positively metallic in places on Balance (their reading of Phil Ochs' "The Iron Lady" had a little more in common with Ozzy than Ochs), here the band sounds more at ease, more in touch with the traditional elements of the material. Much of that has to do as much with a shift in attitude as a shift in personnel. The addition of Sue Draheim (Jon Renbourn Group and Sorbye's other unit, Caliban) has added an extra, deeper and (again) more relaxed dimension to the Tempest sound. Her ultra-fluid fiddle lines and soft harmony vocals lend balance to Sorbye's rough-around-the-edges vocals and hard-rockin' mandolin lines. That said, it's clear that Tempest is Sorbye's band (he and drummer Adolfo Lazo are the only original members left) as he wrote (or co-wrote) all but one of the four originals presented on this ten-song release. It's Sorbye's voice and mandolin that are the band's most distinctive features (at least before Draheim's entrance), to say nothing of his talent for picking traditional songs that have resonance with contemporary audiences, whether picking from Appalachian tradition ("Old Man At The Mill"), English coal-mining territory ("Byker Hill"), or from Norwegian fiddle music ("Numedalshalling" and "Kafjell," both inserted into "Fjellmannjenta," dedicated to a lady with vast appetites). Along the way the band finds time for a murder ballad ("Cruel Brother") and a meditation on a shape-shifting girl ("Carnival"). Shapeshifter isn't perfect ("Winter Night" is a well-intentioned seduction ballad that never really takes off) but whereas some working the Celtic/folk niche are too happy to serve up cold, twice-baked versions of the same old staples, Tempest is full of surprises, offering fresh flavors and variety, especially here.