25. March 2025
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Media Review

Pristine – The Lines We Cross

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Pristine - The Lines We Cross

Pristine - The Lines We Cross
4.5

Rating

 4.5/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Very entertaining rock album
  • Good balance between vocal and instrumental side

Despite Tromso is just having some 40,000 inhabitants, the city is quite well known as a touristic hotspot in Northern Norway. The rock band Pristine is originally from this city, which is really high on my travel bucket list. In this posting, I am at least traveling to Tromso music – The Lines We Cross is the sixth album of the band. Release date has been 27th January 2023.

 

 

Pristine – About The Artist

Pristine started as blues rock or classic rock band in 2006. Since their last album Road Back To Ruin, the Scandinavians are typically rather regarded to be a hard rock band. The album also had a short presence in the German album charts, while the 2011 debut Detoxing was a one week entry in Pristine’s home country. The band is a quintet. Heidi Solheim is the vocalist of the band. The instruments are played by Espen Elverum Jakobsen (guitar), Asmund Wilter Eriksson (bass), Kim Karlsen (drums) and Anders Oskal (organ).

 

Pristine – The Lines We Cross – Track by Track

The ten song album lasts 48 minutes.

1. Action, Deeds & Suffering

These guys rock – and there is hardly a chance to argue against it… At least when you listen to the opener. The guitars fire their riffs at full force and Heidi Solheim sounds like a first cover for Doro on a Warlock comeback tour. Fun opening – which definitely ensures that everybody is awake after the first 4:25 minutes.

2. Ghost With A Gun

The title of the second track is already suggesting that Pristine is not heading into the ballad section already. Drummer Kim Karlsen is driving the band in this song, even during the relatively virtuous guitar part in the bridge. – which feels a bit too long to me.

3. The Loneliest Fortune

Seven seconds are missing.. The third song on the album is a 9:53 minute listen – so it is just below the double digits. The first part of the song has a ballad character, feels a lot like blues, but also has a touch of a folk song. The second part with quite intense flute sounds rather reminds me of Jethro Tull. Cool recording, indeed.

4. Stepping Into The Breach

After this intense and epic listen, the 3:34 minute Stepping Into The Breach feels to take the role of an interlude rather than a full song. But that would definitely be unfair to the song, which is having a nice independent and cheeky flavor.

5. Valencia

Some of the songs on this album also have a psychedelic touch – and when Heidi Solheim is belting out I will marry you in Valencia, this feeling is getting quite intense. The song creates its very own atmosphere and is thus rather impressing.

6. Carnival (feat. Arctic Philharmonic)

This 07:32 minute epic has been recorded together with the Arctic Philhamronic Orchestra and is the second really long track on the album. The band is lulling the listener with a fairy-style sound and ballad character – but just when you enjoy the beauty of the vocals and orchestra most, the other instrumentalists clearly state that they just don’t want to be that passive for more than five minutes – and turn this song into a great rock finale. Wow, that’s the highlight of The Lines We Cross.

7. Sad Sack In A Cadillac

The stomping Sad Sack In A Cadillac comes with a really cool indie-pop style and thus introduces another new, different sound to the fans of the band. Even if you don’t prefer some of the listens, you just cannot state that the Nordic band is not offering you a sufficient range of options.

8. The Devil You Know

The second single release again blends blues vibes with really nice hard rocking guitars. Get your face melted from the (in winter) dark and cold Tromso!

9. The Lines We Cross

Apart from the epic songs, The Lines We Cross is one of my favorites of the album. I love the powerful rock elements, the clear main theme and the howling guitars. Needless to say that I love Heidi on the mike.

10. Instant Conclusions Decade

Here we go, the happy ending. The song feels a bit of dream-ish and a bit of calm, but the very background of the track just does not allow it to feel too much like a ballad. A song that stays in your mind… And even if you dare to listen something else after this song, it will make you come back to The Lines We Cross, for sure.

 

Pristine – The Lines We Cross – Spotify

Here is The Lines We Cross on Spotify:

 

Pristine – The Lines We Cross – My View

I love it! The Lines We Cross simply has so many different elements in store, none of them feels too shabby. Heidi Solheim leads her bandmates in a great way – and they pay it back with a very catching and versatile instrumental support. Pristine created a very good long-player, for sure.

 

Pristine – The Lines We Cross Tour 2023

Germany and Norway are the countries in which Pristine has written chart placements so far – and these countries are also the ones featured in Pristine’s Tour 2023:

Fr 10.02.2023 Kristiansand (Norway) – Vaktuba
Sa 11.02.2023 Lillesand – Banken
Fr 17.02.2023 Tromso – Bakrommet
Mo 17.04.2023 Bremen (Germany) – Meisenfrei
Tu 18.04.2023 Hamburg – Logo
We 19.04.2023 Cologne – Yard Club
Th 20.04.2023 Dortmund – Piano
Fr 21.04.2023 Berlin – Quasimodo
We 26.04.2023 Munich – Backstage Club

Flyctory.com and Norway

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