THIRTEEN EIGHT

Fredrik Larsson is one of those artists that YouTube helped them spread their own music.A Swedish native, originating from Gavle, he learned to play multiple instruments and by the age of 20 he started taking singing lessons.Since 2008 he had been posting personal videos on YouTube, his fame slowly arose and exploded with a fantastic 8-min. medley of 32 popular songs.In 2010 the time to put his own musical vision on tape had come and by the summer of 2011 the whole process was completed, resulting ''Thirteen eight'', originally released on bandcamp under the moniker of FreddeGredde, followed later by a digipack CD.The title of the album refers to the 13/8 time signature he often used throughout the recordings.

Anyone having watched the impressive medley of Larsson on YouTube should know what to expect from this Swedish talent, except you should throw in the technical vision of progressive music.Big part of the album contains short tracks with maybe the greatest number of twists and turns you can find around, but the material is not complex, on other hand this is a compilation of dense Art/Pop Rock tunes amazingly connected under a Heavy Rock sophistication.Bands like PROFUSION, A.C.T and SEVEN STEPS TO THE GREEN DOOR are the best comparisons.Imagine COLDPLAY, JAMES BLUNT, DREAM THEATER and BEARDFISH tunes all condensed in 3 to 4 minutes, fast-paced songs with some slower, atmospheric parts added for good measure.All instruments are played by Larrson with the help of one David Schlein on drums and you will hardly realise that this is actually a one-man effort.Fantastic mix of instruments and voices and a clean production offer the musical aspects of Larsson at their very best.Influences from Acoustic Pop, Pop Rock, Fusion and Neo/Symphonic Prog, all are present in limited number of minutes to display catchy hooks, virtuosic instrumentals, memorable melodies and powerful guitar/keyboard solos.A couple of tracks, ''Euphoria'' and ''Time will tell'', just proove the talent of this man, who can also compose long pieces of modern Progressive Rock with orchestral, poppy and Metal influences.No surprise, these tracks are led by multiple variations with an even deeper instrumental technique and stunning vocals by Larrson, characterized by dominant guitar runs, symphonic keyboards, acoustic lines, Fusion moments and, yes, endless breaks and changing tempos.

This one belongs among the top albums of the year and among the very best (almost) one-man projects around.Fascinating Heavy Prog with an incredible number of influences and beautiful vocals.Highly recommended, needless to say.