HYBRIS

It took the progressive rock music by storm, find new admirers, revived the old ones and surprised even those active ones.

The album is incredibly tight, thought out to the latest detail, cohesive, inspirational and creative.

All players are masters of their instruments: Loud Rickenbacker bass, emotional guitar with different faces, equlibristic drumming and effective flood of Hammond organ + Mellotron.

The voice of the singer is weak in terms of intensity but conveys fragility and suits this kind of music; thankfully, the music is mainly instrumental.

Anekdoten could be considered as Änglagård 's peer but in my opinion, Änglagård are a tid ahead in terms of compositional skills.

The first track "Hybris" epitomizes the traditional revival of progressive rock in the 90's: Paying hommage to old masters while bringing enough creativity and input to the table.

Dramatic, dark and melancholic atmosphere opens up this masterpiece composition. The instrumental interplay brings instant joy into ears of the listener especially thanks to virtuoso drums. Folk influences are offered, too.

The quiet acoustic guitar/flute section is compensated by one of the most memorable church-organ-like solo - pity that it is not a genuine pipe organ. The climax is reached shortly afterwards with keyboard and guitar escapades. New ideas keep coming even late into the tenth minute, no repetitions but new motives planned until the latest detail.

"Vandringar i vilsenhet" is a first sung song with plenty of Hammond organ and dark Mellotron section in the middle. Musicians succeed in graduation the tension until a Genesis-inspired moog section comes. The finale is marked by deep bass pedal and a combination of organ+mellotron resuting in another strong music experience.

"Ifrån klarhet till klarhet" starts like a bad joke with juvenile replay to quickly upgrade to a bombastic dynamic overture with loud bass guitar and pleasant acoustic and electric guitar playing. The voice is less fragile than in the second song but still tender. The soft acoustic guitar creates space to re-breathe.

"Kung Bore" is the most melodic effort on the album and as typical for the band, also the most melancholic one. The melancholic motive is outstanding and repeated in the end to a great effect. Singing reaches best quality on the record. The folk influence is considerable in the middle section. A fantastic composition full of emotions!

The bonus track "Gånglåt från Knapptibble" has a bit worse sound quality but does not stay behind in terms of emotions and quality. It shows a great use of synths, mellotron and Hammond organ.

This album is one of the best progressive efforts of the 90's and you must not miss this one!

Share this ÄNGLAGÅRD review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to sgtpepper
• Report this review (#2241665)
• Buy ÄNGLAGÅRD music online with PA partners
• Show all ÄNGLAGÅRD MP3/Stream
• Go to ÄNGLAGÅRD page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Hybris page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for ÄNGLAGÅRD related discussions