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Anekdoten - Until All the Ghosts Are Gone CD (album) cover

UNTIL ALL THE GHOSTS ARE GONE

Anekdoten

 

Heavy Prog

4.16 | 747 ratings

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Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer
5 stars This is ANEKDOTEN's sixth studio album but the first in eight years. Mind you there have been four little Anekdotens born during this time as life goes on. Man this one has really blown me away, I honestly wasn't expecting something so great as their last one "A Time Of Day" was my least favourite studio album up to that point. There seems to be a theme on this one and "death" is the subject matter. The cover art is a photo of an old, haunted looking house that they found on an island near Stockholm.

It's pretty cool that they have a few guests helping out including Australian Marty Wilson- Piper who played guitar in THE CHURCH. I asked on another site how the heck he ended up on this album being a half a world away when Mattias Olsson(ANGLAGARD) told me that Marty now lives in Stockholm, Sweden. Theo Travis also guests here and he became aware of this band when Steven Wilson played him the album "From Within", as a result Theo knew he had to work with these guys. We also get ex-OPETH keyboardist Per Wiberg guesting on one track. He's an old friend of the band who actually played Grand piano on "Vemod" then again later on a song from "Chapters". Lastly sax player Gustev Nygren guests on the final tune.

"Shooting Stars" is without a doubt one of the best openers that this band have come up with. They actually brought Per Wiberg in because Nicklas wanted there to be an organ/guitar duel in it and man does it work well. I don't remember hearng such powerful organ runs on an ANEKDOTEN album before. How good is this song when it kicks into gear. Powerful to say the least. The organ runs rough-shod at 1 1/2 minutes followed by mellotron. Not worthy! It's the guitar's turn after 2 minutes ripping it up in a big way. A calm follows as we get vocals for the first time. "Hold your head up high" is such an appealing line during the chorus. Some heavy shit 4 1/2 minutes in after the vocals have stopped. That organ/guitar duel begins before 5 1/2 minutes as they trade solos and check out the drumming. It's so majestic 6 1/2 minutes in, then the vocals follow as it settles back. "Get Out Alive" has such a powerful and majestic intro as the vocals arrive around a minute. I'm so moved after 2 1/2 minutes then we get an instrumental break after 3 minutes as the guitar grinds away. Vocals are back before 5 minutes then Anna adds violin, what!? Okay she played cello on the debut but I wasn't expecting this. Another instrumental break follows.

"If It All Comes Down To You" features Theo Travis on flute and man what a gorgeous track. Even the guitar and keyboards are so beautiful here, not to mention the mellotron. It's like being in this sublime dream really. Vocals around a minute and I really like the vocal line on the chorus that is repeated like an echo. A nice guitar solo signals a wondrous instrumental section with some amazing flute. "Writing On The Wall" is mellotron heaven early on and check out the guitar before 1 1/2 minutes. It calms down with vocals before 2 minutes and I love the liquid sounding keys 3 minutes in. It turns instrumental after 4 1/2 minutes. Another calm before 7 minutes then it kicks in fairly heavily. So good! A mellotron storm ends it. "Until All The Ghosts Are Gone" features both Wilson-Piper and Travis. Nicklas is in fine form vocally here and a fuller sound arrives before 2 minutes. There's so much depth and the flute is such a nice touch. A beautiful track with some excellent guitar 3 1/2 minutes in. It ends with a stunning instrumental. "Our Days Are Numbered" starts off with mellotron and sparse sounds but when it turns powerful it sounds incredible with the mellotron, bass and more. Another calm follows then at 5 minutes it starts to build with sax and an urgent rhythm. It becomes so intense with the sax blasting holes in the soundscape.

Man this was well worth the wait. My oldest daughter bought me this from I-Tunes but I need to get a physical copy. It's early yet but this is already a top three ANEKDOTEN album for me, and that's saying something as they are a top three band in my world.

Mellotron Storm | 5/5 |

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