BLÅ VARDAG

I found this while I was on my "discovering rampage" of Swedish prog like The Flower Kings and Anglagard. I came across these guys, who are of course Swedish. Let me tell you it was a pleasant surprise and one of my favorite discoveries to date. This album has everything I like in symphonic prog. The melodies are there, the harmonies are there, and the lush instruments that make the genre so great are also present.

The album is fully instrumental, which is fine by me. The instrumentation is strong enough on its own it would probably be hindered by vocals anyway. To describe the music, I would probably say it's a combination of symphonic prog like Genesis with a mix of jazz fusion. The songs do carrier a rather lighter a free flowing feel as seen in jazz.

The best part of this album is easily the endless melodies these guys are playing. You might think one moment is cool and exciting but then they hit you with something even better. They are also able to make the songs flow very well.

The majority of the album is upbeat and packed with riffs. The slower sections that do exist are played wonderfully and have a nice atmospheric feel, similar to Pink Floyd perhaps.

I would recommend this album to most fans of symphonic prog and jazz fusion. People who like their music on the darker may be turned off by this as it is mostly happy, uplifting and overall very easy listening.

If I were to have any problem with this album it is the production of the cymbals which seem to be overly loud in the mix and in your face in a few songs. Other than that, this is a very good, if a bit unknown album.

9/10