I WASH MY SOUL IN THE STREAM OF INFINITY

Wow! This is amazing music that everyone simply must hear! Incredible atmosphere created by inspired musicians of supreme talents. Hypnotic, trance-inducing, virtuosic instrumentalists improvising in perfectly harmonius, entrained grooves. Check out the live in the studio YouTube video of "Fire! Fire!" put out by their recording company, TransubstansRecords. It's awesome! Like every year, I just know I'm going to find tons of musical gems from 2011 AFTER the year has passed! What an amazing year for prog music! IMHO, I think it will go down in history as THE BEST YEAR EVER for music. Thank you Internet! Thank you ProgArchives! Thank you YouTube! Thanks progstreaming.com!

1. "Fire! Fire!!" (13:07) starts the album off with what I call the second best song of the year. (Please check out the YouTube video of the studio recording of this song! It's amazing!) The band is just jamming from the start, trying to get a feel for one another, trying to get connected, and then entrained. The bass player establishes the line that brings the others into the 'stream': first the drummer, then one of the guitar players, then the other. Later one of the guitarists (NICKLAS BARKER, also known as a composer/founding member of ANEKDOTEN) steps over to a mellotron to add some of his wizardry from there. By that time the song has long jelled into one amazingly hypnotic groove. . . . One that could go on . . . forever . . . (But, sadly, does not.) (30/30)

2. "Pagan Moonbeam" (3:47) starts with all acoustic instruments, some from the Orient, some more medieval European. The stringed instruments and hand percussives all kind of drone into a slow groove that never really goes anywhere and, actually, feels several times as if it is about to fizzle out. The organ play and sitar are the only things that actually try to stray from the melody at all. A very spacey, sleepy ending. (8/10)

3. "The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart" (5:40) opens with some very deep bass wabbles--not unlike some of HOLGER CZUKAY's experimental sounds from his days with CAN and after. The dissonate guitar arpeggios and mellotron chords never quite gel, despite the efforts of the drummer and bass player. (7/10)

4. "Torbjörn Abelli" (10:57) begins a high-pitched wail--whether it's guitar amplifier feedback or synthesizer I am not suer. A picked electric guitar riff joins in and is repeated for about three minutes. Just before the two minute mark the second guitar, bass and drums start to join in and, very gradually, build up some steam. By the start of the fifth minute the formerly plucking guitar is strumming and the volume of the music is increasing. Cymbols are now crashing almost constantly. The second electric guitar continues to explore, to enjoy, its freedom. Definitely the song that feels the most like it is soundtracking a 1960s group drug party. (18/20)

5. "Under Crimson Skies" (10:33) begins all of a sudden (as if the engineer does a quick fade in from somewhere midstream of an already existing jam song). It's pace is fast, furious, loud and easy to get sucked up into. This one feels very much like it could have come from an OZRIC TENTACLES album or live concert. Drummer and bass player are locked into an awesome groove while blues-rock (PETE TOWNSEND or KEITH RICHARDS anyone?) guitar and guitarist/keyboardist play (and groove) over the top. At the 3:30 mark there is a shift as the lead blues-rock guitar work stops and a heavily effected 'space' guitar (MICHAEL BROOK) takes over the lead for the rest of the song. Meanwhile the rest of the band drops down in volume to play support with some very subtle, quiet play, until the song finishes with mellotron as the main, lead instrument. (19.5/20)

6. "I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity" (6:19) has a very laid back groove, started by a repeated riff from a YOUNGBLOODS-like electric guitar sound. Early PINK FLOYD also comes to mind when listening to this one. And maybe some NEKTAR. A beautiful song to send us out into the ... Stream of Infinity. (9/10)

EVERYBODY: Get on this train! This is human expression at its creative best--at its highest potential! Five stars without questions or qualm! This is ESSENTIAL music not just for prog lovers or even just for music lovers but for any human being that might aspire to squeak out the most of their human potential. Ride the waves of Ronny Eriksson's bass lines. Fly into the stars with Mathias and Nicklas' guitar (and keyboard) sounds. Dance across mental planetscapes with Tomas Eriksson's batterie play. Music not to be missed!

4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music.