Pedestrians Of Blue is without a doubt one of the most promising Norwegian rockbands at the moment. The band consists of singer/keyboard player Johannes Stole and guitarist Torfinn Sirnes. On their first demo CDR Circles Of Butterflies – recorded, mixed and produced by the band in their home studio –bassist Kjetil Lundo joins them. No drummer was found so the band had to use a drumcomputer, a major concession because these drums sound rather flat in comparison to the warm and powerful sound of the other instruments.

‘Father And Son’ is the first song on the EP. A good choice because this song is brilliant from beginning to the end. It’s not hard to determine where the roots of the band lie – Queensryche, Metallica and Arena – but there is not a single moment where any of these major bands get copied. The way the songs develop is surprisingly progressive, changes in melody are quite original.

The second song ‘Crossing’ gives the musicians the opportunity to profile themselves, with catchy vocals and great melodies.

The beginning of ‘When The Rain Falls’, reminds me of Dream Theatre, but also a lot of other bands come to mind. I’m not particularly charmed by the manipulation of the vocals (‘Cher-ish’) and prefer the up-tempo vocal-melodies. ‘Out Of The Rain’ is the final song on the disc and starts out as a balled à la Anathema. The subtle piano-melodies are followed by an outburst of instrumental power. The chorus is great (some Kansas here), again Stole proves to be more than an average singer.

I know this band is still looking for a record label and musicians, to be able to record their first full-length album. I don’t know why, because as I wrote, this is without a doubt one of the most promising bands in Norway and probably the whole of Scandinavia.