EN ANNAN VÄRLD

Agusa is a new Swedish four piece formation that started in 2013, the name is derived from the place where the band did jam sessions. Late 2013 Agusa went into the studio to record the debut album entitled Högtid, released in early 2014. During the winter drummer Dag Strömkvist decided to leave and to travel around India for a while. After a number of auditions Tim Wallander joined the band, and in the beginning of 2015 Jenny Puertas on flute became the newest Agusa member. In 2015 Agusa released the second effort entitled Två, followed by Agusa in 2017, and a serie of live albums between 2016 and 2018. And now, anno 2021, Agusa has released a new album named En Annan Värld featuring two epic instrumental compositions.

Sagobrus (25:01) : This longest track is in the 24-carat symphonic rock tradition: dynamic and varied, with lots of changing atmosperes and breaks, and coloured by a wide range of instruments. The one moment dreamy with twanging acoustic guitar and soaring flute (strongly reminding me of fellow Swedish band Anglagard) or a slow rhythm featuring a Hammond organ solo and a fiery, distorted guitar, turning in a sumptuous climate. The other moment an accelaration with Jethro Tull-like flute traverse, and a tight beat. Or from dreamy with churchy Hammond sound and moving guitar solo to atmospheric with organ arpeggios, slowly turning into more dynamic and bombastic, embellished with pleasant flute, organ and guitar work (again reminding me of Anglagard but also Camel). My highlight is halfway: a mid-tempo with a long and swirling solo on Hammond organ (evoking Peter Bardens from Camel), and strong rhythm-section, topped with a wah-wah drenched guitar sound. The shifting moods are very flowing and the band succeeds to keep my attention, bravo!

Uppenbarelser (21:12) : This other epic composition strongly differs from the previous one. First the emphasis is on ambient and atmospheric music featuring sound collages, soaring flute and organ, gradually a slow rhythm, turning into more dynamic with sensitive electric guitar leads. Then back to mellow with soaring flute, a mellow sounding Hammond joins, followed by fragile howling electric guitar runs, powerful bass work, and a short flute solo. Halfway the mood shifts to psychedelic, like early Pink Floyd, with a fiery and biting electric guitar solo, and dreamy organ play, pretty hypnotizing and compelling. In the final part (more sounding like the first composition) first dreamy with flute, then turning into bombastic with organ, guitar and flute (again Anglagard hints), and finally back to dreamy with flute and tender acoustic guitar. A pleasant variety.

My rating: 3,5 star.

A fantastic overlooked album, also one of my favorites from 2021.

It contains two large instrumental pieces that evokes elements of Pink Floyd, Jethro tull, Genesis and others 70's classic rock bands. Each piece has around 20~25 minutes, which makes the album clocks at 45 minutes, so this is still a surprisingly easy to listen album.

Sagobrus is a symphonic oriented piece with a recurring flute melody through it's 25 minutes length allied with different independent intermediary movements, flowing between slower, rhythmic or very intense passages. On other hand, Uppenbarelser is a lot different, slower and very atmospheric. It explores different textures before reaching to its both climaxes, and it is so far my favorite of both pieces.

For die-hard fans of the first PINK FLOYD jets, for the psychedelic side, for lovers of old prog rock like CAMEL and GENESIS or ANGLAGARD ice creams, for flute fans as in the days of JETHRO TULL, for those who adore the retro prog or vintage prog rock, for those who like to take the time to unplug their phone and dig into one of the two extended tracks from this 4th AGUSA album.

For all those who adore Scandinavia, large pieces with Mellotron and vintage instruments, which have remained with purely orchestral developments, this disc is made for you! There are two sides of more than 20 atmospheric and bucolic minutes with a mess of drawers, breaks where the flute bottles emotion by revising the sounds of the aforementioned groups.

For others, those who want to hope to listen to a recent sound, there will be a slight or great disappointment because you are indeed in a retro-prog territory of beautiful quality with reminiscences but little pure musical creation; the observation is there, the beauty of the genre does not mean musical perfection, some may be bored without saying that it is bad, we quite agree on that!

There are very few albums that have a way to make you an addict. BEWARE. This album will end up requesting you to hear it again ... and even ask yourself ... what is this?

It is real easy to find bits and pieces of their music that will remind you of some moments in Jethro Tull, Caravan, Camel, Focus and a few other things that you have heard before. But if you think that this is about sounding like the 1970's rock sound that we love and appreciate so much, and have considered it "progressive", then, let's say that this is the modern version of that.

Unlike one other album I have heard from them, this time, there is almost no touch of the folk/rock sound they appeared to have before, and this has become a seriously well defined rock band, that knows how to extend a piece of music, and while at it ... make it nice for us ... and then some.

Both pieces in this album develop slowly and basically just explode strongly, in a way that is amazing ... what seemed like a simple song, has become a monster ... just like out addictions, right? Their development as a piece from beginning to end, is well done and probably thought out, as there does not seem to be a lot of just bare improvisation here, but a really well established piece defined from improvisation to become something that is special.

Of special talent here, is the keyboard sound, the flute and the guitar ... and they serve up a really nice combination, that never feels like you are just hearing a solo ... it seems to be very well defined into the music, so there is no "solo" per se, and the guitar punctuates the development really well, and often is setup by the flute or the organ/keyboards. The keyboard sound itself, is so nice to listen to that it will merit a 2nd (and more) listens, because it is so pretty. And the same can be said for the flute, and then the guitar, the one place where it is easy to think ... he's soloing again and everyone else shuts up ... not here, it is a part of the "symphonic" design of both of these pieces, and the expansion of the guitar parts, are really a treat.

The 2nd piece (Sagobrus) is the one that really takes me away quickly ... just as soon as you think about this or that, it takes you to another place, and does it really well, and at that point your ability to think of other bands you have heard before, just goes away, and the band lives really well on its own in your mind.

This is a highly recommended album for anyone that is serious in their "progressive" collection. The superb thing here, is the cohesion and the well defined sections and their taking the piece further and further, and never once feel like you are left behind ... instead, like me, sometimes you are just out of breath!

I don't know that one can ask for more about an album, and its music. Just super all around and highly recommended.

The album En Annan Varld by Agusa is my first exposure to the band. Based on this album, I MUST have their entire discography. En Annan Varld is incredible and is without a doubt my Album of the Year. With every spin of these two goosebump-inducing epic tracks, I discover something new and exciting. The last five minutes of both tracks are virtuosity upon virtuosity.

This instrumental Swedish act does a great job of weaving themes and ideas together into a coherent, engaging whole. Swedish folk motifs are woven in artfully, and the whole listen is quite satisfying.

Been listening on you tube to these guys and man they are so good, a wonderfully folksy sound mixed with some very modern beats and guitars, there are times you can feel like you're walking through some vast northern forest, such an overwhelming sense of peace.

Swedish instrumental prog rockers are back with a slightly shifted lineup and a much more focused retro psychedelic Prog Folk sound.

1. "Sagobrus" (25:01) nice, laid-back, simple Folk-Rock for the first five minutes. As a matter of fact, one might say that this song is divided equally into five perfect fifths. In the second fifth it goes CAMEL--or at least, tries to. All instrumentalists (guitar, organ, bass, drums) are competent and recorded and mixed fairly well, but nobody blows me away. The 1960s analog-like sound (and recording- ?) choices probably make this a great ride for people wanting to sit back and ride a nice, long wave of late-1960s nostalgia (there's a lot of Doors- and Procol Harum-like feel here). In the third fifth, the flute gives it a nice touch of Moody Blues, Focus, and Camel; the rhythm guitar play, bass, and saw-organ give an almost Supersister/Hatfield and the North funk. The fourth fifth takes a minute to define itself but ends up falling cleanly into a Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here despite the flute arpeggio that remains as a foundational motif throughout; the keyboard work and guitar are definitely straight out of Floyd. In the nineteenth minute we get another pseudo shift as the fuzzed-up bass leads over a weave of mathematic minimalism. By the 20-minute mark, we have moved into a fury of Camel-like tension building, somewhat crescendoing with the multiple guitar tracks merging and weaving in the 22nd-minute, giving it more of a Focus feel. The from 22:00 out is Camel flute and then Hammond taking turns leading the way over the driving theme carried by the rhythm section. Nice. (44.5/50)

2. "Uppenbarelser" (21:13) opens with some harp sounding like a nostalgic Celtic sea shanty. Plodding toms take over over the top of the the psychedelic synth work. This is giving me the feel of being on a journey--of some processional dance being led along the rocky Irish sea coast, flutist and dancers moving at a very slow and staccato pace, very sacred and yet also, at the same time, profanely fertility-oriented. Were it not for the organ, I would think this something that could totally be performed outdoors, while dancing along the coast! In the eighth minute electric guitars join in and the intensity rises, but then, at the 8-minute mark things thin out again, breaking down all the way to slow toms and bass. The organ, and then flute and electric guitar, take up the slow melody, and together build and build, with Cream/Eric Clapton-like electric wah guitar taking over the lead, all the way until the 13-minute mark when things break down for strummed acoustic guitar to take over leading the way. Jazzy drums, bass, gentle flute, and picked Spanish guitar make me think that the processional has moved south--perhaps into the Basque regions of Spain, or its Mediterranean coasts. Community building in the 16th and 17th minutes leads into another attempt at the guitarist to take us over the top. Unfortunately, chaos reigns over cohesion as the dance must become totally bacchanalian--until, that is, we again reach a resting/restarting point at 18:22. This is when we are reminded and/or restored to the original Celtic setting. It feels as if the message here is that it's sleep- time. The final two minutes are very bucolic in a kind of Anthony Phillips way. I do love that a cohesive story seemed to unfold here. Well done! (36/40)

Total Time 46:14

I can see how other reviews call this album full of "addictive" music--especially the second track. I, for one, love the visual and visceral image of myself fully engaged in that highly enticing fertility dance. The synth, bass, and flute performances are wonderful--never overstated or bombastic. I am not, however, very impressed with either the guitarist's electric lead work nor the drummer's timing and mix/recording/engineering choices. While I love the nostalgic feel of the retro sounds and familiar styles, I am more inclined to go back to more original material. Still, a pair of nicely composed, well-collaborated prog epic tracks.

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music on the retro psych-folk-rock side of things.

What a peaceful sonic journey demonstrating significant musical prowess. This is my first Agusa CD. It will certainly not be my last. Especially not to missed if you are a fan of the flute. Not hard to imagine one's self in a verdant forest, near a crystal clear stream with birds flitting about between the trees. Definitely 'transportive'.

While classified as Psychedelic/Space Rock, there is certainly a Folk element as well. Several members have called this album "addictive" and after listening to it once, i can see it certainly has the potential to be revisited often. At 46 minutes it seems almost to brief to me. But for two songs, the overall length is appropriate.

While AGUSA may be listed here under Psychedelia this is completely different music to what I've been listening to over the last many months(my Psychedelic Summer). Very folky with symphonic music done in the retro way like these Swedes do so well. After a couple of pre-spins I was in love with this album. The gorgeous melodies, the acoustic guitar, organ and flute all taking us back in time yet this doesn't sound old. Major changes though for the first time with this band as the keyboardist and bass player have left. Both were also in ORESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE along with the drummer who stayed. The guitarist is also in HOOFFOOT. Two side long tracks which isn't new for this band as they did it previously on "Katarsis" and "Tva".

This was voted 15th best album by the collaborators on here for 2021, very respectable. I really feel that the previous self titled album from 2017 is still their best, although for a time I thought this was going to beat it. Getting to know music by spending time with it is the only way to really know the music. There are some moments that cross a good taste line for me, usually those bouncey flute leads where the word "lame" starts to mumbled by yours truly. Those are rare moments indeed as for the most part we just get these beautiful melodies done so maturely. This is big-boy music. There is some uplifting stuff on here and the band that came to mind the most by far was CAMEL because of the flute of course.

Highlight of highlights is the Canterbury organ on that opening track, man how good does that sound. The guitar solo later at 16 1/2 minutes is kind of bluesy. Very CAMEL-like after 22 minutes. Lots of relaxed music on that opener including acoustic guitar, organ and flute usually leading the way. Track two is where we get some depth in the form of nasty clavinet after 10 1/2 minutes followed by a guitar solo as it cries out over and over. Some native percussion after 18 minutes along with flute as it settles right down.

By the way I spun that self-titled AGUSA album from 2017 today and I do prefer it to this one. Gave that one 4.5 stars, this is a solid 4 stars. If your classy get both.