FRÅN EN PLATS DU EJ KAN SE

In 2001 in Gävle, Sweden, came in life what was meant to become one of the finest contemporary prog bands, Beardfish.Led by multi-instrumentalists Rikard Sjoblom and David Zackrisson, the original line-up featured also drummer Petter Diamant and bassist Gabriel Olsson.In 2002 Diamant leaves to be replaced by drummer Magnus Ostgren and keyboardist Stefan Aronsson.A little later Olsson quits and Robert Hansen jumps in and this quintet recorded the band's debut ''Fran en plats du ej kan se'' in 2003 at Aronsson's home studio, eventually released independently and re-released in 2007 by the Swedish Progress Records with a couple of bonus tracks.

On this debut Beardfish tried to come up with a personal sound, including influences from Prog, Stoner Rock and modern Art Rock, however comparisons with bands like ANEKDOTEN or SPOCK'S BEARD with a certain Scandinavian taste are obvious.Comparisons with PAIN OF SALVATION are also reasonable,if you cut any metal connections.What characterized Beardfish'es sound is the strong use of distorted guitars, deep bass lines and effects in opposite to the vintage echoes of the analog keyboards like organ, piano, Mellotron and moog synthesizers, resulting to an album where two different worlds collide but which is also quite cohesive and tight throughout.Half-split between Swedish and English vocals, the album has a good balance between instrumental explosions and heavy vocal parts.And what actually dominating this fresh work is the union of different musical ideas and approaches.All tracks feature a vast amount of breaks and moods, from pleasant almost Neo Prog-ish synth solos and SPOCK'S BEARD-like enjoyable moments to heavy instrumentals with a dark Scandinavian attitude and organ/Mellotron waves of an early 70's flavor, while the musicianship ranges from groovy parts to semi-complex themes in a blink of an eye and the atmosphere gives its place to technique.

The first ever Beardfish release showed a band with a full rich sound and some great potential.Noone was proved to be dissapointed in the near future.The 2007 Progress Records reissue is a great opportunity to follow Beardfish'es first steps, where the band tried to discover its own identity and finally produced an album of strong, modern Progressive/Art Rock...3.5 stars.