HYBRIS

It was one of those abrupt, boisterous Saturdays at the most important music flea market in the heart of Mexico City: El Chopo. So, as usual, I bumped into my old prog dealer, "El Ganso"; and he led me to the newest stuff he's been shipped to lately. As I flipped back and forth inside the LP's box, I came across this oddly strange record that showed a bizarre kind of sun in its cover and I retrieved some info on the album from El Ganso, he didn't know much about that particular item just that it was a Swedish band that was about to perform next Dec. the 12th at the Foro Cultural Azcapotzalco (some sort of forum that lent its facilities for the Änglagård concert I attended to, I'm talking about 1993 my fellow prog fans). I bought the LP for marvelous $4 bucks and waited patiently for two months, ticket in hand; to go see those Swedish guys.

For the moment I listened to the album for the first time, I completely embraced it, I shocked myself to the bone, I was pretty much sure that until that moment I had never listened to anything like that (of course I hadn't because I was clearly influenced by PINK FLOYD, GENESIS, MARILLION, YES, CAMEL...) and I made ÄNGLAGÅRD one of my favorite bands ever despite that was the only album they had released so far. The day came: Dec. 12th. One of the most important celebration days in Mexico due the religiosity surrounding the country, the day of "La Guadalupana", The Virgin of Guadalupe. The subway was crowded, every source of transportation was unable to be rode in due the seas of people trying to reach to "La Basílica de Guadalupe" (the most sacred Catholic precinct in the city)... the ÄNGLAGÅRD concert was about to start and I was about to burst into flames because of the expectation and the emotiveness to watch them play for the first time (I was already in love of Anna's exquisite flute performing and amazed with Mattias drum skills). To make this story even shorter, you may assume I attended the concert and that I had a wonderful time during the after show with the band, there was a CD autograph session and Anna's flute was missing...

I wanted to make this review this way because the first impact upon ÄNGLAGÅRD is unforgettable, in every single detail. The drum striking by Mattias is outstanding, unbelievable and out of this world, you just can't imagine how he manages to play that way, sometimes as fast as he cans, sometimes impetuous and some other as calm as the wind... spectacular. Anna HOLMGREN's performance in that concert and all along the 4 tracked LP (I got both LP and the CD 2000 - 2003 especial edition with the bonus single "Gånglåt från Knapptibble") is incomparable to anything that you've ever listened to before; sure you might as well think of Andy LATIMER to compare the work of Anna, but you simply don't know what you're saying. Harmonious mellotron and stylophone playing, conjugated with moody bass and guitar executions; "Hybris" is the most representative piece of Scandinavian prog rock work ever, all along the way with "Epilog" of course. Bands such as PÄR LINDH PROJECT (PLP) and ANEKDOTEN are surely impregnated with ÄNGLAGÅRD's essence and project it on every suite, up on the stage, on every single piece contained on their very own productions and just cannot deny their origins. Superb album, reliable under recommendation, I would've rated it 10 starts if I could, you have to have it.