LIGAMENT

As I begin to write this review, it is still light outside the windows. The "day shift" is still ongoing. People are still bustling about, taking advantage of the improving, warmer weather. You can see the first leaves on the trees, tulip-like flowers are blooming somewhere there, and the neighbors are wondering whether it is time to start gardening or whether it is too early. After all, "winter" may come, because "darkness" may come. External life begins to balance along the border between day and dark, moving towards "light," bright mornings and the evening grayness that sets in later and later. And internal life?? It seems to be gaining momentum after the long, cold, and sometimes snowy months. The winter barrier of grayness, melancholy, and sadness is breaking through more and more. An annually renewable new life is beginning. The exit from the darkness of winter and turning one's face towards the sunny warmth is beginning. The time of thaw from the darkness of short days is beginning.

And at that moment, after a thirteen-year break, we get a new album by the Paatos group entitled "Ligament". This is the sixth album in the portfolio of this band, which, existing since 2000, describes its musical work as: "(...) Cinematic rock with influences of heavy rock, jazz & electronic grooves". However, compared to their previous albums (e.g. "Timeloss" and "Kallocain"), we get a dark release, full of syncopated rhythms, melodies that are half gothic, half arabesque. The next compositions are full of gigantic bass lines and the very experimental voice of Petronella Nettermalm transmitted through a megaphone. The album does not lack what the band has already accustomed us to: a captivating atmosphere, refined electronic textures and organic rhythms. However, the special feature of this release is the rampant sadness, darkness, anxiety and the aforementioned emphasis on experimental creativity.

Ricard Huxflux Nettermalm ? the drummer of the band ? in one of the interviews cites the time we live in as the reason for this state of affairs, which is full of anxiety, instability and fear: "(...) Yes, there is a lot of anxiety in the world right now (...) Both lyrically and musically, Ligament reflects the anxiety that seemed obvious to convey". It is also worth mentioning here that some of the songs were recorded live without any editing - "(...) Some of the songs were recorded entirely live, which is why we were extremely sparing in using the "copy-paste" techniques (i.e. we limited editing to a minimum) in order to offer listeners the most honest and lively musical journey possible. A lot of the music we hear today is too processed and arranged, and its life cycle is very short. We have to breathe life into it, introduce some typography, otherwise we will get bored with it too quickly. I think we just wanted to get back to something organic." Maybe that's why you can hear some understatement in them, some positive awkwardness and? sincerity.

The very first composition on this album, which seems inappropriate for the current season, "Chemical Escape" is a perfect example of this. It is an incredible trip-hop journey with psychedelic-hallucinogenic accents, supported by Ulf Rockis Ivarsson's hypnotic bass line and nervous drum rhythm. Against such a background, Petronella's voice is delicate, almost weightless, balancing the instrumental tension. The aforementioned "sincerity" meets in the following songs with an introspective journey into the interior of one's own "self".

The slow, disturbing track "Who Am I" with its very restrained vocal line evokes the mood of David Bowie. "Svart" introduces a strong charge of internal anxiety and fear, sounding like the voice of someone calling for help in a situation of being abandoned. If, while listening to this composition, you think of one of the most important vocal and musical experimenters, Björk, then this association is completely acceptable. It is Björk and? Kate Bush that seem to be the closest associations that can be heard in Petronella Nettermalm's vocals.

The association with Björk's voice can also be heard in the song "I Deny", which mixes the gentleness of the musical line with the incredible timbre of the vocal line, making the whole thing sound like a breath of saving brightness in the heart of darkness. There is also no shortage of melancholy and mood on the album.

"Beyond The Forest" is such a very emotional and melancholic composition at the same time, the mood of which is built by the cello line performed by Petronella. An important "addition" here is also the singing of Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth), who in a duet with Petronella creates an incredible atmosphere of some kind of joy through proverbial tears in the middle part of the song.

The bass line and trip-hop vocals build the composition "I'm Letting Go" by drawing the listener into the world of a percussion-driven journey. As a result of this "mixing", we get a seemingly melodic composition, which however irritates and every now and then throws you out of listening and some contemplation.

The only description that comes to my mind while listening to the song "November" is "spectacular". This composition is one over four-minute musical passage with gentle melancholy that breaks through the moody haziness. And the unsettling vocals, seemingly gentle, innocent, yet full of absorbing melancholy and breaking through sadness, are intriguing, order you to listen and do not allow for a moment of pause.

"Can You see it? The sick pallor of reflection in Your mirror You still smell it The rotten stench of Your own bitterness Now You don´t even feel anymore Believe anymore And all my dreams were dust, after all... Unjust after all..."

This is a fragment of the lyrics of the title composition from the album ? "Ligament". This composition is the most experimental part of the album. Petronella's vocals processed by a megaphone on the one hand reject, and on the other hand create an atmosphere of total confusion of everything with everything. A mix of fear, chaos, total improvisation, almost punk chaos and synthesizer sounds. And as if to counterbalance, there is an instrumental, very short piece entitled "Post War Limina", which, through its simplicity of arrangement, is a quieting of the previous "musical mess". It is a break between the world of fear and chaos, and the world of harmony and mood.

It is impossible to describe this album in a traditional way. It is impossible to summarize it, it is impossible to "pull out" all the inspirations and associations from it. Without a doubt, it is a perfectly realized album, showing a huge palette of moods and colors. It is similar with the musical inspirations that can be heard. Definitely Björk, Kate Bush, David Bovie. Definitely... a number of other artists and musical styles. However, all of this is processed in a way worthy of attention by Paatos, who returns with a proverbial shield after years of absence. And returning to external and internal life, I must say that this is not a "spring" album. With its melancholy, subcutaneous anxiety, predatory mixed with sadness and gentleness, it stands in complete opposition to the brightness, life born in spring, to bright mornings and long days. Finally, to the ordinary, down-to-earth joy of every moment, of every moment. But at the same time it is a necessary "supplement" to this nascent, unbridled joy. Its yang element, because its ying element... just look out the window... a new day has dawned and things will happen, oh yes they will...

As I finish writing this review it is still light, almost warm, no clouds. And I am very happy about that because I have finished listening to one of the most atmospheric albums of this year and now I am going out into the sun.

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