BLOMLJUD

I picked this up on a whim after reading some of the great reviews and positive comparisons to the Flower Kings who I really enjoy. Overall, this is a great album getting 4 stars from me. Given this is a newer band, the compositions are well written and the playing tight and professional.

I do find you have to be in the mood for this album to really enjoy it though. The mood of the album is overwhelmingly positive so if you are feeling down this album could give you a boast. You can just imagine the band members singing harmoniously with big smiles on their faces and bubbles floating in the background. However, if you are in the mood for something with a little more grit or a little darker you may want to look elsewhere for that particular listening session as the positive mood could become annoying.

The album could definitely benefit from better engineering and mastering. While sounding clean and fine on computer speakers, if you play this CD on a decent stereo system you will find it sorely lacking in bass and dynamics which could have given the bands sound a lot more umph, parlicularly on the epic track Other Half of the Sky.

Overall a great effort. I look forward to hearing more from these guys.