Reviews on the second Tumult album: KVÆRN

” Tumult plays folk rock Danish style. Led by talented fiddler Jorgen Dickmeiss, Tumult powers through both traditional Danish songs and instrumentals with refreshing energy and originality. Dickmeiss’ vocals are playful and nuanced, and his fiddle is equally fluid and melodic. New guitarist Mikkel Grue’s playing is solid and inventive (gone are the Eddie Van Halen riffs that occasionally marred the first recordings), as is the bass and drum work.The music is drawn from more varied sources than that of the first CD, with acoustic pieces as well as a bit of Danish country & western. Grue plays Dobro and lap steel alongside the hard-edged, full rock band arrangements. If you think folk rock is dead, then you haven’t heard Tumult. Recommended. “

Dirty Linen, April 2005 by Jim Lee, USA.

‘’ There's something wonderfully muscular about Tumult's brand of Danish folk-rock - or quite
possibly rock-folk. It stuffs all your preconceptions about the genre in a bag and
shakes them around a bit before letting them loose. Much of the material is traditional,
although you'd be hard-pressed to know it, since it's smacked about a bit and dressed up with
influences that range from slightly twisted Americana (Crossing The Atlantic/ Sugarfoot Rag,
which features some stunning lead guitar), to the berserk polska of Drengene og Pigerne, which
doesn't invite dancing. Leader Jørgen Dickmeiss plays a mean fiddle (along with several other
instruments and vocals), letting it twin with Mikkel Grue's guitar to great effect on the
instrumentals. The rhythm section isn't afraid of pounding a little to keep a hot pulse.

They've come a long way since their last outing. This time the sounds and the arrangements are
more focused, and they've learned how to breathe remarkable new life into a big ballad like Malfra
or a Fanø sønderhenning like Allemagasej, as well as writing some excellent material such as The
Steed, which roars out of the gate, and The Morning Country, which bears an eerie postmodern
resemblance to Greensleeves. If they can generate this kind of energy on record, they hold the
promise of being an incendiary live act. Between Tumult and Serras, Denmark is showing that
electric folk really does have a way forward without repeating the same old clichés.’’

fRoots Magazine, April 2005 by Chris Nickson.

" The Second cd from this Danish group from which emerges very nicely an intense personality. The one of the singer and fiddler Jørgen Dickmeiss - a captivating voice, a lively fiddle and an exceptional expressiveness. With a guitarist, a bass player and a drummer he forms a concert group that works with new compositions and Danish traditional material in moods colored by rock and occasionally by country. " (translated from French)
Le Canard Folk, Nov. 2004 by M. Bauduin, Belgium.

" Tumult rattle on. Tumult does it again - finally. Follow up their debut cd "wallegnav", which was released three years ago. Tumult is still a pleasant acquaintance, who with their mixture of electric guitar, bass and the good old fiddle creates a tremendously suspense between the old folk music tradition and contemporary rock. Again it is mostly the interplay between guitar and violin that leaves you impressed. While a tune like "Allemagasej" - a sønderhoning (Danish traditional tune from Fanø) in modern garment - is on the cd player, one can only wonder at the enormous popularity that scottish folk rock has in Denmark, whereas we have both the raw material and the manufactured goods here at home. " (translated from Danish)
Jydske Vestkysten, Oktober 2004, by Ole Sørensen.

" The second album from this quartet proves to be very good folk-rock, centered around guitar and fiddle. They're equally at home with Danish and American music, strongly rooted, and their version of "Sugarfoot Rag" highlights the technical prowess of the musicians. Mostly, though, it's about the songs, as it should be, with some driving arrangements. They're really found themselves with this disc, and taken the music to a new, finely focused level that makes one think of big things in their future. "
www.Globalvillageidiot.net, Nov 2004 by Chris Nickson

" With the charismatic violinist and singer Jørgen Dickmeiss in front Tumult now follows up on their very well received debut cd from 2001. They carry on in very much the same stile as the debut with good Danish folk music played with an original modern sound. Still the Band has developed the music and the playing together very much and appear today as a band with a more compact sound and a cool swinging core." (translated from Danish)
Musikeren, December 2004, by Troels Skjærbæk and Jens Sparrevohn Rønn

"During the last 30 years there has been plenty of "boundaries" and "possibilities" in Danish folk music, but plenty of young musicians have for some reason either not dared to break down the boundaries or they have not seen the possibilities. I think that the respect for the so called tradition has made many people experience the boundaries as both too tight and enforced - and this respect has impeded more than it has been good since young fiddlers started playing with the old experienced fiddlers in the midsixties encircled by thick cigar smoke. In those days a meeting with Evald Thomsen (old Danish trad. Fiddler) could strike sparks, the accuracy was not so important as the inspiration itself and many fiddle boundaries were broken down in this very lively period. I have experienced both the scorn and the enthusiasm for the electric violin and I have been applauding with enthusiasm, when I have heard "den rode lue" (Danish trad. tune) played on electric guitar. Unfortunately the folk music kept many of its boundaries for what was allowable, and I did not think that so many years should pass before the decency and the deference disappeared without loosing the respect for the traditional roots at the same time.
But when I listen to "Kværn" - it has been worth the waiting. There have been attempts from other bands earlier, but I think that Tumult gets a few of steps further ahead. Even though it is not until track 5 "Gangeren" that things fall into place. It is not enough to electrify the instruments, one needs thinking and arranging too. I started thinking of Fairport Convention's epoch-making album "Liege & Lief", when I noticed the niceness' meeting with the magnificent guitar- and fiddle-"dirt" on the song "Jeg gik mig bag et gærde". Jørgen Dickmeiss sings well but to make such a nice vocal survive it needs to get wrapped up. And it is. The violin and the guitar is striding in wonderful rugged way throughout the cd, and on "Gangeren" it all falls to place and ends where the comparison with "Liege & Lief" makes justice.
The fabulous good arrangement of "Den forførte jomfru" is only a little of what awaits you on "Kværn". That is a long row of carefully prepared traditional songs spiced with newly composed tunes. It is all wrapped up in barrier-breaking arrangements, where to me it peaks in the line "min mødom er væk og forloren" in the mentioned song. Even "Diesel schottis" gets a kick in the seat of it's pants, sending it far away from conservatory circles - and well, I'll be damned that is great - and when Tumult then places "Gangeren" right after - it makes you want to applaud the cd-player.
The arrangements have been made in a collective process - according to the cover notes - and that is audible. Yet the drums are left somewhat in the lurch, for instance in "Malfra/Malfras styk", in which they could have lifted the efficient arrangement of this dramatic song the last bit. An impartial producer would without doubt have intervened with a few well-meant ideas. A little thing in group connexion perhaps, but no less an important detail. A producer would without doubt have broken down the last boundaries. "Kværn" is a well played and liberating straightforward ce. Even after listening to it several times there are details that catch you and it makes it one of the best Danish albums of the year - in my opinion - and a efficient run-up to the next. " (translated from Danish)
Folk & Musik, December 2004, by Poul Erik Sørensen

“ They ”mill” very well, and they succeed well both with new and traditional material. Very inventive and varied music, but nothing for the hardcore traditionalist. Titles like Dieselschottis and Allemagasej speak for themselves. “ (translated from Swedish)

Fiolin Min, 4/2004 by Siv Ekström

“ Dass man den Folk ganz neu präsentiere – welche aktuelle Folkband würde das nicht von sich behaupten? Nur manchmal stimmt es nicht, während es manchmal stimmt. Im Falle von Tumult gilt letzteres, spielen doch die vier dänischen Jungs um den Sänger und Streicher Jörgen Dickmeiss eine Volksmusik, die sich quirlig und ausgelassen gibt, ohne dass man beim Zuhören gleich auf dem Tanzboden von Anno damals landet (wenn er sich auch zuweilen am Horizont zeigt). Seit 1999 ist man zusammen, hat sich auf der Akademie für Musik von Fünen kennen gelernt, getrieben von dem Wunsch, einerseits die Spielfreude der dänischen Folklore zu bewahren und andererseits die in der Tradition immer auch angelegten Grenzen zu überwinden – weshalb man sich ganz praktisch auch bei schwedischen Traditionals bedient. Und so quieken und wimmern die Fiedeln ebenso herzerfrischend wie die Rockgitarren heldenhaft stampfen, während der Trommler sich unverdrossen seinen Weg bahnt. Das alles rühren Tumult beständig hübsch durcheinander, denn »KVÆRN« heißt nichts anderes als Mühle. ”

Nordische Musik (www.nordische-musik.de), November 2004 by Frank Keil