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Anekdoten - Nucleus CD (album) cover

NUCLEUS

Anekdoten

 

Heavy Prog

4.02 | 461 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Cesar Inca
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Following the path of splendorous melancholy and majestci density set by their fabulous debut album "Vemod", the Swedish ensemble Anekdoten managed to take a musica lstep forward with their sophomore effort "Nucleus", which I still today regard as their best album ever. The thing is that the band successfully enhanced their originally Crimson-meets-Gothic sound with the solid addition of 75-77 VdGG essences, avant- garde post-rock and even grunge (a genre that guitarist Nicklas Berg publicly celebrated in a favourite albums' list). The overall result meant the resolution of a more elaborated melodic approach and a more polished treatment of the repertoire's more languid moments, although it would be fair to note that none of this leads to a resignation on the Crimson-inspired neurotic delirium. This factos is still there, in your face, fillin the atmosphere with fire every time the guitar and the cello marry in an explosion sustained by the powerful and efficient rhythm duo. Many praises have gone for the particular labours of bassit Liljeström and drummer Nordins in other previous reviews, and they're not gratuituous at all - their input is full of creativity and intelligent complexity without letting go of their usual founding function. The album kicks off in an awesome incandescent mood with the eponymous title, a sonic fire briefly announced by the initial tuning of guitar and cello for the first five seconds. The presence of vocal passages during which the instrumentation gets a bit less loud only enhances the power of the instrumental moments. A bit less fierce but also a bit more complex, the second track 'Harvest' follows in the same vein of meditation and neurosis fused in one sole mental vibration. The 10- minute long 'Book of Hours' is the longest track in the album, mostly slow and moody. The combination of old (KC's 'Starless', VdGG's 'Still Life', Magma) and new (post-rock) makes this track display an effective sensation of renovation of an old art-rock tradition. The mellotron is both evocative and revealing in its absorbing, emotionally-charged textures, becoming the leading role in many ways. Nordins' drumming is also relevant, building its subtle dynamics in an incredible way. 'Raft' is a brief guitar soundscape that serves as a prelude to the energetic 'Rubankh': an impressive journey into the instrumental depths of Anekdoten. With 'Here' comes the album's first ballad: this is a moving declaration of affliction wrapped in a fog of deceiving tranquility. Awesome! The last ballad is the closer 'In Freedom', which, contrary to the aforesaid song, brings a message of emotional relaxation and serene optimism. The string section harmonies and the vibraphone touches are proper extensions of the song's idea. Right before 'In Freedom', 'This Far from the Sky' shows the band at its grungiest, but always bearing that Crimsonesque heritage and including softer moments as a source of old fashioned progressive contrast. Like I said at the beginning of this review, this is my all-time Anekdoten fave album, and generally speaking, an excellent item for any good art rock collection.

Cesar Inca | 4/5 |

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