ONCE WE WERE BORN ...

This is the debut of a new swedish band which has its home in the heavy prog genre. 'Once we were born ...' is released by the Transubstans Records label which is known for offering a lot of interesting nordic bands. Ten songs with an overall good sound, sophisticated but also with space for improvisation. The band recorded the songs within two days, nearly on the fly, only with overdubs for some vocals and mellotron. You can examine a lot of changes and surprises. First of all because of the excellent rhythm section the album is full of power and dynamic.

I'm quite sure this band delivers a very exciting performance on stage. So I hope I'll be able to see them live sometime in the future. Daniel Karlsson's excellent organ contributions are attracting attention and of course Alexander Frisborg's special vocals which are sounding somewhat strange for the first rounds but are suitable if you take more time to explore this album. Finally Oliver Eek is important adding his various guitar work and rounding up the sound of THE DIVINE BAZE ORCHESTRA.

With the hammond dominated Dance and Choose Your Green we have a very rocking and promising start whereas the latter is spiked with screaming, nearly overburdening vocals and some BLACK SABBATH riffs at the end. The following Trota Di Mare is basically a boogie in the vein of UFO's best days. For the classic blues Orange and Turquoise Oliver Eek occupies the lead vocals, even with some roaring moments, and demonstrates that he's even more than an excellent guitarist. We also have nice percussion attendance in the background here and the organ ... wow, fantastic. One of the album highlights.

The shorter tracks In Search and Little Man are having a heavy psych vibe and then with the last four songs the band is focussing on the jamming qualities a little more. The person with decent mellotron use and Closing The Circle are containing a jazzy rocking touch. The excellent The Man From My Mother's Brother is provided with a groove sounding like american jam bands but alternating with carousel organ parts. Burned By The Sun, the longest track, evolves to a fine dynamic rock song with a psychedelic break and high toned backing vocals like URIAH HEEP in the end.

'Once we were born ...' promises a good mix of retro and modern elements - a matured, diversified debut album of a band from the depths of the swedish forests.