HYBRIS

This is the first of Anglagard's two albums. It's a shame such a great band had to have such a short career. But anyways, here is their stunning debut album. I blew my mind from the first time I listened.

A description of the music: A very good chunk of this album is instrumental, rather than vocal. The first track, "Jordrok," begins with a gorgeous piano line that soon explodes into a fun instrumental with some neat soloing. A very fun to listen to instrumental which goes through many mood changes and pretty much shows what symphonic prog is all about. "Vandringar I Vilsenhet" begins with a beautiful flute section, which eventually builds up into a louder instrumental section. When we hear the first vocals of the album, they are quite high-pitched, and seem to take some influence from Jon Anderson. This track, like the first, features many distinct mood changes and is quite hard to effectively explain. "Ifran Klarhet Till Klarhet," unlike the others, explodes right from the start and grabs hold of your attention immediately. Here, the singer sounds less like Jon Anderson and a little more like his own sound. This song also has some outstanding guitarwork. "Kung Bore" begins with an absolutely majestic classical guitar section, which is eventually joined by the other instruments and instantly changes into the fun, bouncy mood that was present in the rest of the album. The vocals in this song are beautiful, but there aren't many. The instrumental section in this song goes through many different changes and never fails to keep your attention. This song is closed by a beautiful string section, some cymbal work, and then a very quiet flute.

PROS:

The style: This album is like nostalgia for older prog fans. It's quite hard to believe Anglagard are not from the 70s, as they draw the symphonic prog influences from Yes and Genesis and also small influence from King Crimson in some sections, yet at the same time come off completely original and new. They also did not use any instruments that were not made in the 70s. Clearly these guys were on a mission to revive good old 70s prog.

Musicianship: A humongous part of this album is instrumental, and the instrumental sections are very well done. The drumming draws Bruford influence and there are many effective and fun to listen to solos. The bass is also catchy and has a great tone. The organ also comes in when it is most effective and never fails to amaze. There are also some very beautiful flute sections.

Production: Every instrument is completely clear and work together to give this album a great sound.

Very complete: Every song on this album is very complete and you'll never finish a song and feel as if it is missing something. They all contain many moods and have all of the characteristics of 20 minute songs compressed into shorter lengths.

Constistency: This album seems to have no real weak moments and contains constant quality.

CONS:

Very little vocal work: It is really quite unfortunate, as the band possesses a great vocalist who gets very little time to shine on this album.

Song ratings: Jordrok: 10/10 Vandringar I Vilsenhet: 9/10 Ifran Klarhet Till Klarhet 9/10 Kung Bore: 9.5/10

Recommended for: Any fan of symphonic prog. People in search of an album that will grab your attention and never let go.

My rating: Definitely 5 stars. This was love at first listen for me. One of the greatest albums of the 90s without question.

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