INDIAN SUMMER

There are mixed reviews out there for this album. Landberk tried pretty hard to do the dark prog thing for a while, with not much success in my opinion. There was always something better about Anekdoten's tunes, although Landberk always had the secret weapon of Reine Fiske's wonderful, delay-drenched guitar leads, which now grace Dungen. This last album is the one where they finally got their own sound, which makes it a shame that it is their last. The band focussed less on traditional Crimson-derived dark prog styles and more on refining what was best about their sound. Indian Summer is extremely, determinedly sparse and wintery, mostly focussed on Fiske's slowly unfolding melodic leads and subtle mellotron chords. Singer Patric Helje is sometimes compared unfavourably to Bono, but the resemblance is trifling- he's a serviceable vocalist, although not the main attraction of the group's sound. This album works best in the slow, ponderous pieces, not so much on slighty more upbeat pieces like "1st of May" or "Dustgod". But check out the celestial beauty of the second half of "All Around Me", the delicate melody of "Why Do I Still Sleep?" or the closing instrumental title track to hear melancholy prog at its best. This album may have been an effort to establish a more modern, accessible sound, but whatever Landberk was going for, it works. For fans of Anekdoten, Radiohead, Dungen, Paatos, Mogwai etc, this is a good one to track down.