V

Paatos were formed in Sweden in 2000, and was originally formed by two guys from Landberk (Reine and Stefan) and two from Agg (Ricard and Johan) to act as a backing band for the folk singer Turid. From there they decided to create their own band and brought in Ricard's partner Petronella as lead singer. A year later they recorded their first single, "Tea", which had been written for them by Turid. Now all these years later they have released their fifth studio album which has four new songs and four that have either been revisited or remixed, and "Tea" is one of those.

Although I haven't heard their last studio album I do have the other three and I have always been impressed with the way that Petronella's clear vocals work so well with the often complex and sometimes dissonant music that is underneath. She soars high above whatever is going on, allowing the guitar to play chords, pick a few notes, or even be absent altogether. These are songs that don't look back in the way that some prog music does, but instead is all jagged edges and being very much of the present. In a perfect world this would be chart music or at the very least get radioplay as it brings the listener into their world yet manages to maintain a certain commercial feel throughout. There are some who will question if this album even fits into the genre at all, as it is right on the edge, but to be honest who cares? This is a really strong album, with powerful yet ethereal female vocals and is one I could play all night. Www.paatos.com

"V" is the fifth full-length studio album by Swedish progressive rock act Paatos. The album was released through Glassville Records in 2012. It´s the successor to "Breathing" from 2012. After returning from a successful tour supporting Riverside, Paatos went into the studio to begin recording what would become their fifth full-length studio album, but something went wrong and only four tracks were completed and the band split-up. The four new original compositions are featured on "V" along with a remix of one track from each of the four preceding album releases. So eight tracks and a total playing time of 37:58 minutes were the end to Paatos career.

Stylistically the new tracks continue the dark, heavy, and melancholic female led progressive rock style of the preceding releases, albeit maybe slightly harder rocking. It´s details though and this sounds very much like what came before and there´s still great diffences in dynamics between a relatively heavy and hard rocking track like "Desire" and the lighter and more uplifting "Cold War". Just as an example of the diversity of Paatos.

Remix tracks have never been something I could bother with, but the four remix tracks on "V" are stripped down and subdued versions of the original tracks (except "Your Misery" which is quite upbeat and energetic), which actually add another dimension to them. They aren´t necessarily better than the originals, but they are interesting enough to stand on their own. "V" is still a bit of an odd release as it ends up being a release which is somewhere between an album release and a compilation release, but aren´t really neither. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.