EFTER EFTER (AFTER AFTER)

TRETTIOARIGA KRIGET certainly doesn't roll off the tongue for this English speaking Canadian but it's the music that counts and these guys are pros in every sense of the word. A Swedish band who formed while they were still in High School as a four piece and it wasn't until their third studio album that they brought in a keyboardist and this same lineup continues to this day as I noticed they released a new album in 2021. They have disbanded a couple of times previous but unlike so many bands when they return they continue to sound like themselves and they continue to make outstanding music. In fact this album I'm reviewing is the third in a trilogy and this trilogy may be their best string of music. I also really like their 1974 debut. Funny but my oldest daughter really likes this band which is kind of random but she loves PORCUPINE TREE so she's into the more accessible bands of Prog. Great guitarist here and the vocals are in Swedish and they have indeed carved out a nice career for themselves in their native Sweden. And they use melloton! In fact they used Stefan Dimle's mellotron the same guy who's label they have been on since 1992 called "Mellotronen", and he was also in LANDEBERK, MORTE MACABRE and PAATOS to name a few.

We get mellotron on five of the eight tracks creating atmosphere. This band are great at contrasting the heavy and more mellow passages. I have loved the sound of the guitar since the start, just the tone of it but of course the guy can play, and that he does very well. Man this is a consistent album which I like, no duds just a lot of great music. It opens with heaviness as the drums boom and the guitar solos over top. It lightens when the vocals arrive but contrasts continue. Interesting to hear orchestral sounds on "The Child" probably from the keyboardist. A mellow start but when the vocals step aside before 3 minutes and the tempo picks up I'm smiling. Heavier before 5 1/2 minutes until almost 7 minutes. Nice. I'm a big fan of "The Dance" as well which is an instrumental with some great sounding guitar. Another highlight is "Glorious War" opening with bass and reserve vocals it kicks in around a minute including more powerful vocals. Organ rolls in at 5 1/2 minutes with guitar soloing over top. So good and it ends heavily. The closer is the other highlight called "After After" at over 10 minutes. A great tune to sample actually as we get this band at their best including mellotron.

If you don't mind non English vocals and are into some adventerous guitar driven music please check out this amazing band. Hard to believe this was released 10 years ago.