RAGNARÖK

Perhaps this is not more folk than Kaipa, Änglagård or Atlas but it is sweat symphonic music with wonderful acoustic guitars. Ragnarök's debut album from 1976(not 77) feasts the listener a very melodic and nice meal with a lot of qualitites. A fantastic thing about this band is that it comes from Kalmar, a pretty city I've lived in for two years when I was a teenager, and also my mothers birth city(and a place I'm going to tomorrow). The name of the band, "Ragnarök" is from the nordic religion "Asatron" where "Ragnarök" is a future happening when a last fight between giants and men is going to take place and the world will fall apart, to rise up again as a new world with new gods and men.

Not a single minute is abd or boring on this record but sometimes are better than others. The first track "Farvel København" (Farewell Copenhagen/Farväl Köpenhamn) (10/10) manages to show us magnificent acoustic guitar play. I can honestly say that Ragnarök's guitars are better than many good prog band's guitars. "Nybakat bröd" (newly baked bread) (10/10) is the other faultless track here, a funny, honest and wonderful melody played on flute and guitar with a jazzy touch in the middle. "Promenader" (Strolls) (9/10) has a jazzy feeling of the seventies that is wonderful in guitar and piano. "Stiltje - uppbrott" (Lull - Decampment) (9/10) is another magnificent track which first grows calmly to explode in the end, allways with skillfully played instruments. Amongst the other tracks "Dagarnas skum" (8/10) a longer, experimenting piece, "Polska från Kalmar" (8/10) a short folk song played on flute and "Fabriksfunky" (8/10), a rich musical world with a unique melody, are worth naming.

When listening to progressive rock I'm often in heaven, and Ragnarök's music is candy for my ears. But I wouln't consider it a masterpiece. If they had done longer, more advanced compositions, perhaps with vocals, it could have come closer, or just fail. Four stars is my not so surprising statement.