PAATOS

A band I will always find the time to listen to (more for the hope of hearing the magically-nuanced performances of my favorite drummer of the Naughties). After 13 years (probably focused on raising children), the band returns with a highly-creative effort that would seem to deny that any time has passed at all.

1. "Chemical Escape" (5:53) Huxflux is back! He and Ulf Ivarsson present with an impressively complex high-speed weave from the opening note to the end while Petronella's calming voice characteristically (and magically) counters from the top. Keyboards are also almost always present within the mix as well, sometimes (especially at the end) providing Petronella's only support. (8.875/10)

2. "Beyond The Forest" (5:52) an eery folkish song that feels as if the music is built around the vocals: Petronella and guest Mikael Akerfelt alternating in a duet during the verses and then the faerie-like female choir vocals in the first part of the choruses (full band choir for the second part of the chorus). Drum, bass, synth, and guitar helps drive the song (especially in the fourth minute's drum-and-bass-less instrumental passage) but, again, it feels as if the song could exist as an all vocal a cappella pagan folk song. Interesting but not as engaging as one would have hoped. (8.75/10)

3. "I Deny" (5:02) opening with a beautiful Harold Budd-like arpeggio which is gradually joined by bass, harp, synth strings, and light percussion play. Petronella doesn't enter until the 90-second mark, here singing with an unusually airy-whispery upper-register voice. Gorgeous chords and melodies! Petronella's voice gets a little more forceful for the brief "chorus" recitation of the song title. (9.125/10)

4. "Ligament" (2:09) weird little busy thing that defies categorization--except forthe fact that just about every track, instrument, voice sounds heavily-treated/processed. (4.375/5)

5. "Post War Limina" (2:23) interesting machine/robotic drone-like keyboard and bowed bass piece. (4.375/5)

6. "I'm Letting Go" (5:12) nice rolling tom play with snare hits on "The One" with Peter's droning electric guitar chords and notes and Ulf's active bass play beneath Petronella's strong (invested) vocal. The ambient guitar and/or synth sounds injected between and within the vocal lines are quite cool--as is the multi-voiced chorus near the very end. Cool, effective, and different sounding song. (9/10)

7. "Who Am I" (4:37) jazzy drums open this sounding a lot like some kind of Buddy Rich show from the 1960s or 70s while bass, guitar, and piano inject their long-sustaining minimalistic offerings here and there, providing some kind of chordal cushion for Petronella to sing over. Once again her vocal feels invested, she uses delicacy and power to equal effect--even holding some impressively-long notes with the exposition of the song title. Another song that just flies by and then evaporates as if into thin air! Masterful! (9.25/10)

8. "November" (4:26) guitar, bass, cymbals, all playing with Mark Hollis-like extreme delicacy and sparse dispersal of their offerings--which happens to be just enough for Petronella to deliver one of her signature delicate, vulnerable-yet- elegant vocals. Such impressive skill! (8.875/10)

9. "Last Ones Of Our Kind" (6:10) another solid, masterful song whose weak point, in my estimation, comes in its lyric (which is, unfortunately, lost to me). The music is unusual in its choppy flow but the consistency of this delivery makes it possible to get used to it. Not my favorite song but I cannot deny it's creative strength. (8.75/10)

10. "Svart" (3:59) an unusual song for being build over heavy (almost stark) music that is bass dominated--fully fulling out the low en--while Petronella sings in her light, airy voice over the top. It could have been better had the melodies-- both vocal and instrumental--offered more engaging "hooks" for the listener to sink its teeth into. (I've always had this feeling--especially from the music of this band--that there is something quite foreign, something quite obtuse and inaccessible in the Swedish soul that we Americans cannot ever truly fathom or understand. Paatos is definitely one of the principle bands to leave me with this feeling time after time. I'm not judging [either Swedes or Americans]: just pointing out the consistent trend of my inability to comprehend, much less "like," some of these songs--this despite my understanding and appreciation for their creativity and maturity. They remain . . . "foreign" to me!) (8.75/10)

Total time: 45:43

Wow! After 13 years this is quite an impressive "renaissance" (comeback?) The band's propensity to deliver creative, highly-nuanced and unusual music with lots of unique sound and structural experimentation is as pronounced as ever! It's as if each and every one of the band members has been working super hard each and every day since their last album/tour to improve their skills, to nurture their creativity, to develop and let mature their ideas. I love that Ricard "Huxflux" Nettermalm returns with as impressive (and jazzy) drum work as ever--and that his wife seems as inspired and fully-committed to her performances--to the music--as ever. Yes, Ms. Nettermalm's talents are all on full display: her exquisite skills as honed as ever.

B/four stars; an excellent addition of unusual, often-experimental prog from a highly-skilled ensemble working at the absolute peak of their creative powers.

"Ligament" is the sixth full-length studio album by Swedish alternative/progressive rock act Paatos. The album was released through Timeloss Records in April 2025. It´s the successor to "V" from 2012, so it´s been 13 long years since we´ve last heard to Paatos and personally I thought they had called it quits. Especially considering that "V" was half new original tracks and half re-arranged versions of older material. It spelled the end for Paatos, but I´m glad to be proven wrong.

Rising from the ashes of progressive rock act Landberk (and also featuring members of Agg) in 2000, who released a couple of solid Swedish progressive rock albums in the early- to mid-1990s, Paatos have released quite a few interesting releases through the years featuring influences from musical genres like progressive rock, jazz/fusion, trip-hop, and alternative rock/hard rock. They are not a high profile act (at least in terms of mainstream success), but they have consistently released good quality material throughout their career.

Stylistically "Ligament" is pretty much the melting pot of all the genres mentioned above and it´s like Paatos never went away. They still produce a melancholic atmosphere with organich (and sometimes busy) drum and bass work, beautiful dark guitar melodies, atmosphere enhancing keyboards/orchestration, and Petronella Nettermalm´s strong voice in front. One of the great strengths of Paatos music is that they never become too nice and polished. This is melodic vers/chorus structured music and you can sing along to the choruses, but Paatos always add a sense of unease and a layer of unpredictability to the songs, which keep the listener on his/her toes and make the songs interesting to return to.

To springle a bit of stardust on your album isn´t a bad idea either and Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth guests on the darkly atmospheric/almost cinematic and slightly progressive/neo-folky "Beyond The Forest" singing a duet with Nettermalm. It´s great to hear Paatos exploring a sound like that, and with great success I might add. Paatos can go from performing subtle mellow songs to performing busy, almost aggessive, and hard hitting tracks like they do between tracks number three and four on the tracklist "I Deny" and "Ligament". It´s a pretty big contrast, but it´s great for the variation of the album, and Paatos pull off playing both styles with the same natural ease. I´d say there are more mellow atmospheric songs featured on the album than the busy ones, so it´s not a 50/50 dynamic. Among the highlights of the album are tracks like "Chemical Escape", "Beyond The Forest", "Last Ones Of Our Kind", and "Who Am I", but "Ligament" is a consistent release in terms of the quality of the songwriting.

The sound production has to be mentioned as "Ligament" features an organic, dynamic, and detailed sound production, which provides all instruments and vocals with room to breathe and to be heard. The many layers of the music are heard clearly in the mix, and "Ligament" overall features a high level production job. Upon conclusion "Ligament" is a good quality comeback for Paatos, and fans of the band´s earlier work can safely push the purchase button. To my ears Paatos are slightly more experimental (and maybe a bit darker too) on this album than they´ve been for a while, and that´s a strength. Not catering to a mainstream audience often brings out the best in a band, and at this point it´s obvious that Paatos aren´t expecting one of their songs to suddenly become a hit, and they therefore write exactly what they feel like writing. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

"V" is the fifth full-length studio album by Swedish progressive rock act Paatos. The album was released through Glassville Records in 2012. It´s the successor to "Breathing" from 2012. After returning from a successful tour supporting Riverside, Paatos went into the studio to begin recording what would become their fifth full-length studio album, but something went wrong and only four tracks were completed and the band split-up. The four new original compositions are featured on "V" along with a remix of one track from each of the four preceding album releases. So eight tracks and a total playing time of 37:58 minutes were the end to Paatos career.

Stylistically the new tracks continue the dark, heavy, and melancholic female led progressive rock style of the preceding releases, albeit maybe slightly harder rocking. It´s details though and this sounds very much like what came before and there´s still great diffences in dynamics between a relatively heavy and hard rocking track like "Desire" and the lighter and more uplifting "Cold War". Just as an example of the diversity of Paatos.

Remix tracks have never been something I could bother with, but the four remix tracks on "V" are stripped down and subdued versions of the original tracks (except "Your Misery" which is quite upbeat and energetic), which actually add another dimension to them. They aren´t necessarily better than the originals, but they are interesting enough to stand on their own. "V" is still a bit of an odd release as it ends up being a release which is somewhere between an album release and a compilation release, but aren´t really neither. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

"Breathing" is the fourth full-length studio album by Swedish progressive rock act Paatos. The album was released through Glassville Records in February 2011. It´s the successor to "Silence of Another Kind" from 2006, although the two studio albums are bridged by the 2007 "Sensors" live album. The latter was recorded while touring in support of Porcupine Tree and after the tour, Paatos went on a longer hiatus during which bassist Stefan Dimle and keyboard player Johan Wallén left the band. Upon reuniting Paatos replaced Dimle with Ulf "Rockis" Ivarsson. Wallén wasn´t replaced and therefore all keyboards/piano were recorded by guitarist Peter Nylander (who also plays some trombone and bansuri on the album).

Stylistically the material on "Breathing" continue the melancholic female led progressive rock of the last couple of releases. The focus is mainly on Petronella Nettermalm beautiful voice and strong emotional delivery, but there are some great instrumental performances here too. I will mention the drumming by Ricard "Huxflux" Nettermalm as pretty exceptional, but the many grand keyboards/synths and the organic sounding guitars and bass are also great assets to the band´s music. The instrumentalists manage to keep the songs interesting although most are in a relatively regular vers/chorus format.

"Breathing" features a powerful, organic, and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly, and upon conclusion it´s through and through a high quality release. Paatos have a relatively unique sound and they should be praised for that. Hitting the balance between progressive rock sensibilities and alternative/indie/post-rock ideas isn´t easy, and they master that to perfection. The cold Scandinavian mood of the music is maybe slightly one-dimensional for the duration of a 50 minutes long album, but on the other hand that´s also the attraction of Paatos. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

28th March, 2021: Paatos - Silence of Another Kind (art rock, 2006)

Paatos really head down the dream pop route here, with some of these songs sounding far more Twin Peaks than Genesis. It's a welcome move too, as it does reinforce them as something relatively unique within 2000s prog, and in my opinion quite underrated. The use of violin and saxophone here is also nice, and gives the songs a bit of a chamber pop edge. Any genuine prog here is relatively minimal, but the prog mindset helps the songs from getting too samey in their tone.

6.1 (1st listen)

Part of my listening diary from my facebook music blog - www.facebook.com/TheExoskeletalJunction

After the release of ''Timeloss'' Reine Fiske left the band, although he remained strictly involved in the music industry, playing with several Psych, Jazz Rock and Art Rock bands and collaborating with some others like Elephant9.His place was taken by Berklee alumnus Peter Nylander and with this formation the band recorded the second album ''Kallocain'', named after a sci-fi novel by Swedish female author Karin Boye.They were now listed in the crew of Inside Out (which also reissued the debut of the band) and Steven Wilson was responsible for the mix.

Paatos kept doing what they were originally intended to: Producing Nordic-flavored, atmospheric and melancholic music with a definite progressive enviroment, but also refering to a wider audience due to the modern elements injected in their music, like the Post-Rock moods, the metronomic beats and the vocal distortions, blended with some obvious Pop sensibilities.But you just can't leave aside the LANDBERK leftovers and the artistic attitude of the band, as their pieces still contained symphonic orchestrations, psychedelic edges and heavier segments.This inspired use of Mellotron and organ next to the Post-Rock hard-edged guitars and the Scandinavian colors can only be achieved by mature and talented bands.As with LANDBERK, their music bursted some evident blinks to very early KING CRIMSON and the stunning efforts of ANEKDOTEN with the Mellotron and cello popping up here and there, while the guitars and the rhythm section have a much more intense and less refined value.Imagine this sound blended with BJORK's experiments, that is a good dash of Trip Hop, Art Pop and Electronic sounds, moreover filled with crystalline vocals in lyrics plus a nice touch of 70's Scandinavian Psych/Prog with balanced guitar moves.

When we talk about the past meeting the present, Paatos' ''Kallocain'' should be thrown into the discussion.A very modern-sounding album, which keeps the principles of 70's Prog up high.Post Prog/Psych/Pop with a genuine sound overall, no less than strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

"Sensors" is a live album by Swedish progressive rock act Paatos. The album was released through Mellotronen Records in 2007. "Sensors" was recorded live in Karlsruhe (Germany), Paris (France) and Zoetermeer (The Netherlands) in November 2006. So it´s not one cohesive live recording but rather the best versions of the tracks from those three shows. The CD and the vinyl version also feature different tracklists. Well...it´s actually the same 7 tracks but they are shuffled around. While it may sound like an issue, it´s not really that big of a deal, because as a consequence of the sparse audience reactions between tracks, and the even more sparse band interaction with the audience, the silence between some of the tracks aren´t that obvious and doesn´t ruin anything.

The tracklist comprises tracks from all three studio albums, that the band had released up until then: "Timeloss (2002)", "Kallocain (2004)" and "Silence Of Another Kind (2006)". It´s interesting though, that the band have chosen only to include "Your Misery" from "Silence Of Another Kind (2006)", which was their latest studio album release at the time, and three tracks from each of the two predecessors.

The music is female led atmospheric rock with the occasional progressive rock section. Paatos are distinct sounding because they insist on using vintage keyboards/synths and especially the mellotron is a dominant instrument in the soundscape. Piano, guitar, bass and drums are the other instruments most prominent in the band´s sound. This provides Paatos music with a warmth and organic quality that´s greatly charming. Their tracks are for the most part vers/chorus structured but especially the tracks from "Timeloss (2002)" feature progressive structures and ideas. It´s the strong and intense vocal delivery by Petronella Nettermalm (who also plays cello) that´s mostly the center of attention though.

The band are very well playing and their performance here is top notch. Petronella are also at the top of her game and only very rarely is she slightly out of tune. The sound production is well sounding and powerful too, so all in all "Sensors" is a great live recording by Paatos and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved. I´ll even recommend this over some of the band´s studio output.

"I'm a flower, smell me." With that description makes its Petronella's beautiful voice in the second track Hypnotique, accompanied by soft music that goes in crescendo as the song progresses. Towards the end, the guitar takes over with some catchy lines, well seconded by the flute and the rest of the band. Quits is a percussionist and programmer composition huxflux Nettermalm, and this can be seen in the performance, battery dominates in a fast paced, well accompanied by bass guitar of Dimle, and all the arsenal deployed by keyboardist Wallén. In the last four minutes we hear a trumpet style Crimson. Sensor opens the album with a leading mattress mellotron and energetic singing Nettermalm Petronella, closing with Moog style riffs. Téa is an intimate song, a soft piano provides the basis for the singing in Swedish, accompanied by an arpeggiated guitar, mellotron again appears to move in the same sections stronger. They are Beautiful is more intimate yet, but a fascinating beauty.

Paatos were formed in Sweden in 2000, and was originally formed by two guys from Landberk (Reine and Stefan) and two from Agg (Ricard and Johan) to act as a backing band for the folk singer Turid. From there they decided to create their own band and brought in Ricard's partner Petronella as lead singer. A year later they recorded their first single, "Tea", which had been written for them by Turid. Now all these years later they have released their fifth studio album which has four new songs and four that have either been revisited or remixed, and "Tea" is one of those.

Although I haven't heard their last studio album I do have the other three and I have always been impressed with the way that Petronella's clear vocals work so well with the often complex and sometimes dissonant music that is underneath. She soars high above whatever is going on, allowing the guitar to play chords, pick a few notes, or even be absent altogether. These are songs that don't look back in the way that some prog music does, but instead is all jagged edges and being very much of the present. In a perfect world this would be chart music or at the very least get radioplay as it brings the listener into their world yet manages to maintain a certain commercial feel throughout. There are some who will question if this album even fits into the genre at all, as it is right on the edge, but to be honest who cares? This is a really strong album, with powerful yet ethereal female vocals and is one I could play all night. Www.paatos.com

I've seen PAATOS described as Art Rock meets Post-Rock to Cinematic Rock but whatever name tags you want to throw at these guys know for certain that this is Swedish melancholia at it's best. The clear and pure voice of Petronella is the focus as usual and she just continues to impress me. The one thing I kept thinking while listening to this album was how well these songs would go over in a live setting.

"Gone" stands out for me because it reminds me of THE GATHERING when Anneke sang for them. Just a killer intro with bass as the sound explodes with vocals. It settles back but the contrasts do continue. Killer drumming late in this powerful opener. "Fading Out" is also powerful in it's own way and I like the guitar expressions. "Shells" features strummed guitar before it kicks in with vocals. Lots of depth and atmosphere as usual. Check out the vocal melodies 3 1/2 minutes in. "In That Room" has a dark atmosphere to start. Vocals and a beat before 1 1/2 minutes and chunky bass 3 1/2 minutes in. "Andrum" has lots of atmosphere, piano and more.

"No More Rollercoaster" has a nice drum intro then vocals before a minute. Some huge bass lines as well. The guitar after 3 1/2 minutes is inventive. "Breathing" has an experimental intro then it kicks in after a minute. Vocals follow. Powerful sound before 4 minutes then the vocals return. "Smartan" opens with atmosphere and sparse piano as dreamy vocals join in. Drums follow in this powerful track. "Surrounded" and the next two songs are my least favourites. This song is still good though especially late. "Ploing, My Friend" is a very short piece that sounds like toy piano or something. "Precious" is laid back with vocals. It's okay. "Over And Out" ends the album in style. The bass and drums are killer. A much better song than the previous three.

An solid 4 stars from me.