LIGAMENT

A band I will always find the time to listen to (more for the hope of hearing the magically-nuanced performances of my favorite drummer of the Naughties). After 13 years (probably focused on raising children), the band returns with a highly-creative effort that would seem to deny that any time has passed at all.

1. "Chemical Escape" (5:53) Huxflux is back! He and Ulf Ivarsson present with an impressively complex high-speed weave from the opening note to the end while Petronella's calming voice characteristically (and magically) counters from the top. Keyboards are also almost always present within the mix as well, sometimes (especially at the end) providing Petronella's only support. (8.875/10)

2. "Beyond The Forest" (5:52) an eery folkish song that feels as if the music is built around the vocals: Petronella and guest Mikael Akerfelt alternating in a duet during the verses and then the faerie-like female choir vocals in the first part of the choruses (full band choir for the second part of the chorus). Drum, bass, synth, and guitar helps drive the song (especially in the fourth minute's drum-and-bass-less instrumental passage) but, again, it feels as if the song could exist as an all vocal a cappella pagan folk song. Interesting but not as engaging as one would have hoped. (8.75/10)

3. "I Deny" (5:02) opening with a beautiful Harold Budd-like arpeggio which is gradually joined by bass, harp, synth strings, and light percussion play. Petronella doesn't enter until the 90-second mark, here singing with an unusually airy-whispery upper-register voice. Gorgeous chords and melodies! Petronella's voice gets a little more forceful for the brief "chorus" recitation of the song title. (9.125/10)

4. "Ligament" (2:09) weird little busy thing that defies categorization--except forthe fact that just about every track, instrument, voice sounds heavily-treated/processed. (4.375/5)

5. "Post War Limina" (2:23) interesting machine/robotic drone-like keyboard and bowed bass piece. (4.375/5)

6. "I'm Letting Go" (5:12) nice rolling tom play with snare hits on "The One" with Peter's droning electric guitar chords and notes and Ulf's active bass play beneath Petronella's strong (invested) vocal. The ambient guitar and/or synth sounds injected between and within the vocal lines are quite cool--as is the multi-voiced chorus near the very end. Cool, effective, and different sounding song. (9/10)

7. "Who Am I" (4:37) jazzy drums open this sounding a lot like some kind of Buddy Rich show from the 1960s or 70s while bass, guitar, and piano inject their long-sustaining minimalistic offerings here and there, providing some kind of chordal cushion for Petronella to sing over. Once again her vocal feels invested, she uses delicacy and power to equal effect--even holding some impressively-long notes with the exposition of the song title. Another song that just flies by and then evaporates as if into thin air! Masterful! (9.25/10)

8. "November" (4:26) guitar, bass, cymbals, all playing with Mark Hollis-like extreme delicacy and sparse dispersal of their offerings--which happens to be just enough for Petronella to deliver one of her signature delicate, vulnerable-yet- elegant vocals. Such impressive skill! (8.875/10)

9. "Last Ones Of Our Kind" (6:10) another solid, masterful song whose weak point, in my estimation, comes in its lyric (which is, unfortunately, lost to me). The music is unusual in its choppy flow but the consistency of this delivery makes it possible to get used to it. Not my favorite song but I cannot deny it's creative strength. (8.75/10)

10. "Svart" (3:59) an unusual song for being build over heavy (almost stark) music that is bass dominated--fully fulling out the low en--while Petronella sings in her light, airy voice over the top. It could have been better had the melodies-- both vocal and instrumental--offered more engaging "hooks" for the listener to sink its teeth into. (I've always had this feeling--especially from the music of this band--that there is something quite foreign, something quite obtuse and inaccessible in the Swedish soul that we Americans cannot ever truly fathom or understand. Paatos is definitely one of the principle bands to leave me with this feeling time after time. I'm not judging [either Swedes or Americans]: just pointing out the consistent trend of my inability to comprehend, much less "like," some of these songs--this despite my understanding and appreciation for their creativity and maturity. They remain . . . "foreign" to me!) (8.75/10)

Total time: 45:43

Wow! After 13 years this is quite an impressive "renaissance" (comeback?) The band's propensity to deliver creative, highly-nuanced and unusual music with lots of unique sound and structural experimentation is as pronounced as ever! It's as if each and every one of the band members has been working super hard each and every day since their last album/tour to improve their skills, to nurture their creativity, to develop and let mature their ideas. I love that Ricard "Huxflux" Nettermalm returns with as impressive (and jazzy) drum work as ever--and that his wife seems as inspired and fully-committed to her performances--to the music--as ever. Yes, Ms. Nettermalm's talents are all on full display: her exquisite skills as honed as ever.

B/four stars; an excellent addition of unusual, often-experimental prog from a highly-skilled ensemble working at the absolute peak of their creative powers.

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