SUPERHERO

Carptree is a Swedish duo, made up of Niclas Flinck and Carl Westholm. Although written elsewhere that they wanted to deliver a different kind of progressive rock, I would say that any music produced intentionally to be a progressive rock should be regarded as "different" (than any other mainstream music that is). Therefore, I am quite agreed that this is a different music just as different as Spock's Beard or Genesis or Pain of Salvation when one first listen to any of them.

What is immediately noticeable from this outing was its extensive yet effective use of orchestra fills, which in my opinion is better than what Yes did in 'Magnification'. Speaking of which, some Wakeman sounds could be heard toward the end of the fifth track, Watching The Clock, which telling us that Yes was among the music that influence Carptree.

Basically, the songs in this album were built upon simple piano melody. Some melodies turned into nice catchy song, just like the first track, Superhero, or eerie ones like the second track, Father's House or Into The Never To Speak Of (track seven). I really like the surreal effect evoked by Father's House which is a vocal-piano-song. Thus, without a grand arrangement, Carptree has managed to deliver a strong and stand out song, quite an achievement I might add. In this particular song, Flinck's voice was used effectively as an emotional complement to the already dark melody. He sounds like Peter Gabriel at times, and executes his vocal theatrically the way Daniel Gildenlow does in 'Be' and 'Remedy Lane' (although Gildenlow still the master of this kind of vocal execution).

In track eight, Flesh, the band managed to reenact the unique character of Peter Gabriel, combining an accessible composition with a spirited delivery. Again nice piano piece can be heard here, as well as other tracks, which emphasizes my above observation. The next song, Malfunction, also crafted in the preceding song composition, it was still worth listening however.

In all, 'Superhero' is a good and must-listen album. Niclas Flinck vocal outing itself should be a sufficient reason to explore this album, coupled with strong songs has made this album a recommended one.

Thanks for Mr. Gatot Widayanto for sharing his extensive CD collection which allowed me to know and love Carptree. (Nirarta, Indonesia).