BOOK OF HOURS

Book of Hours played a Heavy/Psych Progressive Rock with a contemporary sound and a style close to compatriots ANEKDOTEN and LANDBERK, lacking though the instrumental depth of these legends, yet performing some powerful and energetic music all the way.70's Progers TRETTIOARIGA KRIGET might be also a good comparison.''Art to the blind'' is based on the guitar work of Broddesson and Mikael Zell in an extreme degree, offering textures full of passionate grooves, sudden gears, complex moves and heavy riffing, which recall KING CRIMSON.Still there are some nice rockin' solos to offer another different dimension by the duo.Keyboards are used sporadically and the need of a richer sound is evident in the process.When used, they create a very atmospheric mood in the style of the aforementioned Swedish masters and the sound obtains a vintage flavor as a result.The vocals are great: Passionate and expressive with a high amount of energy.Combined with the dynamic rhythm section and the crunchy, intricate guitar exercises, they produce high voltage music for lovers of the maximum of volumes.

Book of Hours' debut is an interesting album for anyone into the heavier side of Progressive Rock music.Not very Scandinavian-sounding as many of their compatriots, but definitely highly energetic and passionate music with a fair dose of complexity in the guitars' section.Recommended.

The first song on "Art To The Blind" is a nice heavy instrumental called "Angloksangest". Nice chunky bass lines and pounding drums.The guitar 2 1/2 minutes in is good as the heavy sound continues. "Fifth Dimension" has this releaxed intro as vocals arrive a minute in. It kicks in at 3 minutes. Mellotron follows then guitar after 4 minutes. It settles again but then kicks back in at 6 minutes. mellotron follows. Excellent track. My favourite song is "Infinite", this could be an ANEKDOTEN song. It hits the ground running with heavy drums and bass. Just an awesome sound here. It settles with angular guitar and fat bass as vocals arrive. A tasteful guitar solo 4 minutes in. "Endearment" begins with mournful vocals, which are replaced by flute, which in turn are replaced by vocals that sound processed this time, mellotron rolls in and the song builds into a great sound. It sounds like ANEKDOTEN before 3 minutes and after 4 minutes. Some interesting guitar moves at the end of this one with mellotron.

Some maniac drumming on "Infertile Ground". I like the instrumental section after 3 minutes that lasts almost 2 1/2 minutes. Grinding guitar to end it. "Tender Contempt" has a heavy SABBATH sounding intro with menacing vocals. It does lighten and calm down though then kicks back in but it's not doom-like. The contrasts continue. "Fading From Grey" opens with keys as laid back vocals join in then flute. It kicks in at 2 1/2 minutes (great sound) then settles again. "Den Trettonde Manaden" has Swedish vocals and is dark and powerful. It reminds me of ANATHEMA. A top three track for sure.

This is beautiful Swedish music that I highly recommend. WOLVERINE fans especially might be interested in checking out the Zell brothers and Per earlier in their careers.

I'm not a specialist about King Crimson, but I can recognize some similitudes in Book Of Hours' music, specially when the flute goes on while the guitars and the bass still plays, and with a drum, slowly coming in. Some riffs, notably during the intros, remind me of Tool. But there's is few keyboards: it is really concentrated on the guitars. The female singer is talented and her voice fits very well with the rest of the music. The only thing I could complain about her, is that she's always singing in the same tonality. I would love to hear her singing in different ways, with different intensities.

All the four tracks contain interesting material, without a doubt. The first one, 'Where The Ocean Meets The Sea', is a little agressive. The second one, 'Dissonance', is rather slow and strange. The third one, 'In-between', gets a little symphonic with an oriental background. The fourth one, 'Anomy', is greatly powerful because of that musical harmony that keeps going on with more and more intensity - I love it!!!

There's another track on their website, called 'Submergency', which could have complete this EP. So, I encourage you to download it to get an idea of their style, still it's not enough to show you what they are if you do not have this EP. They have a new album coming out soon, with a new guitarist named Jonas Hansson. Let's see which turn BOOK OF HOURS will take - I'm sure it will be very interesting!