BURIED ALIVE

ÄNGLAGÅRD was like a bright star, they shined from "Hybris" (1992), but burned too soon, after "Epilog" (1993) and even when their members were in the late teens or early twenties, they had vanished in the air, but there was still one more chapter to be written, the band had to release a live album, so in 1994 their Progfest presentation was recorded and released as "Buried Alive" in 1995.

Many people criticize this album because it doesn't sound as their two previous and spectacular releases,but they don't seem to understand that the band was practically retired and making a tremendous effort to play without the help of overdubbing, being that their music because of it's complexity can't be reproduced on stage without loosing some of the magic. As a fact in a presentation I saw on video, the had to ask Par Lindh to help them with the double keyboards required to reproduce what was done on studio.

There's another problem that fans often ignore. ÄNGLAGÅRD'S music is so complex an technical that doesn't suit perfectly on stage where yo need more improvisation and emotion instead of surgical precision, that is what the band gives us.

But lets be honest, despite the limitations and obvious lack of emotion of a band that was thinking in an early retirement, they give an excellent concert, with the usual accuracy and quality in their performance, plus gives us a chance to listen them on stage.

I won't review the tracks as I normally do, because the correct analysis was done on "Hybris" and "Epilog", the natural environment in which this material must be listened.

So, if you are a newbie, start with the studio releases, but for any fan of the band, Buried Alive is an excellent addition that deserves no less than 4 stars.