SIDEREAL JOURNEY

I got this album (promo CD) ten years ago for an webzine I ran back then. I reviewed it (1 star) and then forgot about it. During a clean up of all my ten years old reviews, I spotted the inclusion of this band in Prog Archives and in my own webzine. So I gave this album some more spins.

Where do I start ? This is a one man band by Alf Svensson, a veteran from the Swedish west coast death metal scene. He was a member of At The Gates. For those who do not know; this scene was/is known for it's more melodic take on death metal than the Florida scene in USA. I just mention this because I find a lot of this sound on this album. An album with one piece of music, who are split up in thirty-three tracks. OK..... I am watching the LCD display on my CD player with bemusement. What's the point ? An attempt to get a Top 10 hit ? The music here is as suited for radio-airplay as I am suited as.........well, anything.

The music is based in death metal. Add a large dose of horror music and you get the picture. The nearest reference to this mix I can find is Arcturus. But where Arcturus has some coherent ideas they create into music, Oxiplegatz misses the boat. I loosely finds a basis idea inbetween the LCD display on my CD player announcing a new track. I think there is something here........ let me listen to this album once again......... yes, there is an coherent idea here. Very faint, but there is a pulse in this carcass. The vocals is both male and female. None of them are impressive. The music is a blend of death metal and horror music. No references to classic prog rock can be found here.

I think the album is a mess. It is avant-garde for the sake of avant-garde. It is not particular well done too. It is like a lion playing with a turtle, unable to get to the meaty bits. I think there is something valuable on this album, but I do not know what. Even after four spins. Ten years later, it is still a one star album for me. Sorry !!