FJÄRILAR I MAGEN

This second album is now available through Tachika Record label with a mini Lp sleeve, but I already wrote elsewhere what I thought about these "non-official releases" from Tachika! The only merits I give them is making accessible some records that are otherwise unavailable!

From the first chords on this album , you get the feeling you are in a different (and harder) trip than on their calm , dreamy and pastoral self-titled debut. This is a concept album telling you the story of Fjarilar I Magen as the inner sleeve tells you but don't ask me to tell you more as I am totally incapable to grasp the Swedish text and what's more the music is instrumental. However once the power-chord-filled-first short number is over , the excellent ambiances of their debut come back albeit slightly changed (almost four years between the release of those two) and regularly interupted by more hard chords or nature sounds such as winds or running water (I looked for a broken pipe in the house the first time I heard this much like I looked for the dog that was barking in the garden as I discovered Pink Floyd 's Animals album).

This album is less relevant than their debut but still worth discovering but less so. Hence the three stars

Ragnarok's (from Sweden) second album is an interesting mix of the dreaminess of their first album with decidedly more prog-rock elements. I'm not sure about the "folk" prog label though. I think it works very well and is as impressive as their highly regarded debut. The music alternates between the softer beautiful moments like their first album and these rocking melodic moments and does not sound dated at all. Tracks change, build, evolve always to pleasing new places. Playing is top notch and sound is great. Here's a quick summary of the songs:

The short intro Adrenalin begins nothing like their debut, it is a BIG rock sound with chunky guitar. Track two Forsta begins with lovely solo piano and slowly builds with great bass and guitar atmospheres. There is definite playfulness and gorgeous melody. The third track Osten goes back to being quiet and spacey not unlike a mellower Oldfield moment and towards the end sounds a little like an instrumental interlude from The Wall. Next is Var Glad starting again very soft before the band kicks in with luscious guitar leads and some sax, very rocking! Then comes the 8 minute Blamolnfolket starting soft and moody again, floating through acoustic guitar, flute, and bass. Then a distant sax is layered atop. Around the five minute mark enters drums and ominous guitar before the flute comes back to close the song peacefully. Nice track! Next is Brushanespel which features echoed loop guitar with some bongo percussion. The album closes with the longest song Vattenytor at 8.5 minutes. This track summarizes other parts of the album before closing with a minute or two of running water, an interesting way to end.

Everything is very thoughtfully arranged and ambitious. This is a true lost instrumental gem and given that we're talking 1980 here this is all the more impressive. The cover art may be unfortunately silly but the music is truly wonderful. A wide range of moods from colorful to dramatic to playful to brooding. Luscious. Not to be missed. 4.5 stars and I want to round up but am trying to restrain my enthusiasm!!! Very hard in this case.

Ragnarök’s second album starts quite differently from their debut, but in the end the songs here are not all that distant from the mellow folk/fusion of the group’s first album. More keyboards here, and the occasional belted-out electric guitar lick just to keep listeners off-base a bit, but really the band established their core sound in 1977 and don’t vary much from it here.

‘Fjärilar I Magen’ (‘butterflies in the stomach’ or something close to that) comes nearly four years after the band appeared on the scene with their self-titled debut. After a short, heavy guitar opening on “Adrenalin” the music settles into familiar territory with piano, muted saxophone and almost synth- sounding electric guitars whining softly in the background. About their first album I once wrote that the music sounded like a seventies soft-porn movie soundtrack, and the same holds true here for the most part. Around the same time as this album there were quite a few artist putting out jazz/rock-based ambient instrumental music like this (Group 87, Jah Wobble, Wendy Carlos, Brian Eno), so the stuff isn’t exactly ground-breaking, but it was timely and topical at the time it was released.

“Var Glad Var Dag!” is another track with some heavy guitar work, and here the saxophone is quite prominent, but this is a notable exception on the album, not the rule (although “Blamolnfolket” has a similar arrangement only stretched out to more than eight minutes). “Brushanespel” has some oddly- formed guitar chords that reverberate in an unusual way, but this is just clever noodling in my opinion and doesn’t add to the song’s meaning or ambience at all.

The album ends with another eight minute track, “Vattenytor”, and this is the most disappointing track for me. I have to turn up the stereo volume pretty high just to hear the thing since it consists mostly of almost imperceptible guitar chords stretched out over plunky piano keys. I think this one took the concept of ambience to the extreme; either that or this is a tribute to sleeping or something. Not sure what the running water at the end is supposed to represent either, but it made me want to go to the bathroom.

I wasn’t hugely thrilled with the band’s debut, and would have given it 3.5 stars but had to round up since the rating system doesn’t allow that. I’ll do the same here except that I’m rounding up from 2.5 stars; this one has too many weak moments and not a lot that stands out. Better than a collectors-only piece, but not by much.

peace

Ragnarok from Sweden is a little known progressive rock band from late '70s, with minor succes at the public back then as now. Their second album from 1979 named Fjärilar I Magen released on CD only as far as I know on Tachika Record label as mini Lp sleeve is a quite odd album to my ears, but in a good way I can say. Ragnarok offers a kind of folk moments combined with jazz fusion elements all constructed on progressive atmosphere. Well, at first listning I was kinda surprise what I've hered, is quite diffrent from their debute who was more calmer and with a more pastoral feel, this one is from the beggining more edgy like on opening track Adrenalin, a short tune with pumping bass lines and with a crimsonesque atmosphere. Overall all pieces are ok, Var glad var dag! is another highlit, biggining slowly and mellow and then all musicians simply burst in some almost great arrangements with sax and guitar leading. All album is instrumental. So all in all decent, but I can say I was very impressed , really. 3 stars for sure, no mere no less.