Quote Originally Posted by Mr Peabody
3LB, any advice on Anathema or Karmakanic?
I'm not that familiar with Anathema. They've been around for a while. A few tracks I heard sounded ok musically, but the vocals were not up to the task of the material. Kinda reminded me of a later-day Fates Warning.

I have heard older Karmakanic, and like every other Flower King related project, they tend to sound a like - when I hear Karmakanic, or Tangent, or Roine Stolt's solo stuff, or Kaipa, or Tomas Bodin's solo effort, I hear what could be the same band. This might have something to do with the fact that they all play on each others projects. If you are in the market for this style of prog, I'd suggest the last few Kaipa albums, or any Ritual album. My fave Flower Kings album to date is Paradox Hotel. But some projects like Karmakanic (and even some Kaipa) tend to be rather jammy, even jazzy, with some improv and much overplaying. They like to throw in a lot of intricate, fusiony interludes for the sake of fusiony interludes; you know - showing off the chops. Also, this brand of prog from Sweden tends to get a little carried away with the keyboards. If old style prog keyboards are your thing, then hell, you're in luck. But to wrap this up, it is very much what many call neo-prog, in that it is very reminiscent at times of classic prog bands like early Genesis, ELP, Yes, Gentle Giant, Camel, et el.

IMHO, the best neo-prog band to come out of Sweden of late is the band Ritual. This is a very retro sounding project, with many a reference to Swedish folklore in both compositional/lyrical content, and instrumentation. Its a geniune love for their heritage that make this group very charming and enjoyable for me. This band has a very Yes-ish sound to my ears, seamlessly mixing jazz, folk and rock the way early Yes did. Their sound can seem complex, but their sound is more of a articulate, interwoven style of playing. Very tasteful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRk7H...eature=related - this isn't what every song sounds like, but there aren't many really good examples. This song is from their latest album (2007) which is based on an old Swedish children's story (an album that still gets regular spins by the way).


Next, you might try The Flower Kings (also from Sweden). I'd start with the aforementioned Paradox Hotel and work your way back. I actually prefer their two older live albums over their studio releases. Live On Planet Earth and Meet The Flower Kings have different track lists, the sound quality is great and playing is spot on, of course they don't have a raucus crowd to contend with either (proggers are quite sedate it seems). Both of these albums are a great intro to this band and represent their catalog quite comprehensively. Great upbeat music and tasteful playing, though their grasp of english isn't always spot-on (in the earlier albums) and the lyrical content can be wince inducing at times, as they attempt hippyish transcendentalism ala Jon Anderson on some tracks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjFV-...eature=related - this track isn't the most accurate example of their sound, but you can follow the other links, for other samples (warning: this band doesn't do many short songs).


One of my favorite releases to come out of Sweden in recent years has been Sleeping In Traffic Pt 1 (2007). It similar to everything I described about Ritual, except that they can be quite edgy, mixing in Zappa-esque flourishes here and there, even in the lyrical content as well, as they like to include profanity and humerous stories about ludicrous characters, such as this one, The Gooberville Ballroom Dancer, from their '05 release, The Sane Day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cit1bXbiCs8

not everybody's cuppa joe, so let us know what you think.