HYBRIS

Well, there are those progressive music fans who feel the real masters were the early pioneers: King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Camel, Jethro Tull, and the like. Many of those fans would pan newer groups as ‘derivative’ for simply learning from those bands and adding their own musical ‘voices’ to the mix. I think that’s unfortunate, and particularly so in the case of a band like Änglagård. This album is a stunning piece of art in every sense. I can hear influences of every one of the bands listed above in this music, and I think that is great!

This band was a brief and shining example of what can happen when a group of dedicated and talented musicians lend their skills, and their new ideas, to the progressive music. Each of the four tracks is full of complex and intoxicating sounds, most of it swirling and rising above Baroque-inspired mellotron and organ. The guitar work is in the finest tradition of a generation of great Swedish guitarists, passionate and melancholic but at the same time full of life. The tempo changes and occasional Swedish vocals serve to extend the mood of each track even beyond their substantial lengths. Anna Holmgren’s finesse as a flautist is every bit as interesting and artistic as the power of Ian Anderson’s, perhaps more so due to the great range she shows throughout. The first few times I listened to this album I found myself engrossed from start to finish, ignoring everything else going on around me as I drank in the beauty of it.

I won’t bother to expand on the tracks individually, as I’m listening to the album right now and having trouble focusing on putting down words to describe it. Suffice to say that this music reaffirms for me that symphonic rock was not an aberration of the seventies – it lived again in the nineties with Änglagård and bands like them, and it lives today with bands like the Tangent, Transatlantic, and Wobbler, among others.

This album is a must-have for just about any fan of prog music, and particularly for those who value symphonic rock. Highly recommended. Five stars.

peace