A DROP OF LIGHT

I didn't expect Änglagård to quickly release a followup to Viljans Öga, but they probably realize quality vs. quantity. All Traps On Earth was originally the name of a composition Johan Brand had in mind, but then he got Thomas Johnson and Erik Hammarström (who replaced Mattias Olsson in Änglagård), as well as his daughter Miranda Brand. So All Traps on Earth, the band, was hatched, with the composition bearing that name as the opening track. Miranda delivers some wordless semi-operatic vocals, as well as having various guests for wind instruments.

Unsurprisingly the music is not too different from that of Änglagård. This album only demonstrates how much of that Änglagård sound came from Thomas Johnson and Johan Brand. There will be a lot of that familiarity upon listening to this; however, you can tell it's not Änglagård, as you don't get input from Jonas Engdegård and Tord Lindman (as they were obviously not present). That means less of the gentle, pastoral passages, you do get some, but it's more calm piano sections than acoustic guitar sections. Also there's some some jazzy tendencies (example: trumpet solos that would be foreign on an Änglagård album) and a stronger influence from RIO and Zeuhl. I suspect "Magmatic Warning" was likely in honor of the famous French band Magma. Looking at the booklet that comes with the LP, it shows Johan in his studio with his basses, guitars, and his keyboards, along with a bunch of LPs, most of them familiar to the prog faithful (I noticed Viljans Öga is one of them, which is no surprise as he was obviously responsible for the creation of that album). And then there's the Mellotron, in which both Thomas Johnson and Johan Brand use, a real M400, and the M4000D (basically a Memotron with the Mellotron name on it). It's very clear the choir are very much a real M400, complete with key click. Like Änglagård, this isn't an easy listen, but what an amazing album still the same. Due to the approach and consistent quality throughout, it's really pointless to describe highlights. It's a bit longer than the typical Änglagård album, but it's quality throughout.

This album is sure to be a hit with progheads everywhere, and this easily sits nicely with your Änglagård albums!