NYMF

While I really enjoy the music of CARPTREE upon first listen--it never fails to entertain, has good melodies and very lush sound production--I eventually lose interest; it becomes nice background music but nothing I want to fully attend to or engage with. The music of Nymf is, however, IMHO the best I've heard from them. "Land of Plenty" has me sinking back into the best of 80s MARILLION. "The Weight of Knowledge" could have been a good PINK FLOYD outtake from the 80s or 90s. The albums weakest moments are, for me, in "Between Extremes, Prelude" (a derivative of the album's first song) and "Sunrays" which have me feeling really stuck in the 80s--as if I'm listening to PSYCHEDELIC FURS or PETER SCHILLING. The opener, "Kicking and Collecting," suffers from the syndrome of many CARPTREE songs: What initially feels like tension and drama in each song, over a whole album- -and over time--begins to feel like melodrama. Again, nice production and keyboard work.

The Swedish combo CARPTREE was formed by Niclas Flinck and Carl Westholm back in 1997, and released their self-titled debut album four years later. 4 more productions have followed, of which "Nymf" from 2010 is the most recent.

The slightly bleak symphonic art rock universe explored on "Nymf" might be something of an acquired taste, but those who have enjoyed the previous efforts by this band as well as those who have a soft spot for Westholm's metal-based endeavor Jupiter Society should feel right at home with this CD. As far as further recommendations go, I'd imagine that many who enjoy acts like Porcupine Tree might appreciate this one, and those who tend to be captivated by the gentler and sophisticated varieties of progressive metal might be an additional possible audience.

On Nymf, Carptree's dark, almost gothic take on Floydian neo-prog comes to a polished fruition, sounding extremely modern and building on the musical traditions represented in it rather than slavishly imitating them. Within the neo-prog sphere, the band definitely tend towards the current Marillion format of prizing evocative, atmospheric soundscapes over technical complexity, and they soundscapes they choose to explore are evocative if generally familiar. At turns morbid, melancholy, reflective and resigned, the band seems to follow a vague sort of concept, but whether or not you can follow it is another matter - still, if you can't get enough of this sort of thing, that probably won't matter to you. That said, the vocals this time around are a little overplayed, to an extent where it ends up overpowering the music.

The first four albums were all released two years apart, but it took three years for the fifth to see the light of day, and what wasn't understood at the time was that this would be the last album until a return some seven years later with 2017's 'Emerger'. Edelönn, Fandén and Perkovic were all still involved alongside the duo of Flinck and Westholm, but there had been a musical shift between this album and the previous ones. There is now a bleakness, almost a desperation, while the music has also become heavier and more symphonic. There is definitely the feeling that the band has become much more of a quintet than just a duo, and while the orchestral feel from the earlier albums is still here, this is a band starting to move away from what they had been doing.

Between this album and the previous one, Westholm had released a couple of albums under the name of Jupiter Society, which were musically very different to Carptree and there is no doubt that at this point this band were moving into a much rockier direction than they had previously. Carl was to become heavily involved in HM acts, including the mighty Candlemass, and although this could never be thought of as a heavy album, it is indeed a step change from what had happened before. Niclas has a voice that I have seen compared to Hogarth, but in fairness to both of them he is much more like Gabriel, and while he has always seemed at home in the gentler material, when given the opportunity to put himself more to the fore, as on the dynamically changing and challenging "Land of Plenty" he relishes the opportunity.

Of the four albums I have heard from Carptree this is definitely the most diverse in its approach, while also the most interesting. I may be behind the times, but I am so glad that this 2010 album has finally come my way.