September 14, 1992 - Änglagård and Hybris

Two months after my last release a new band joins my library when progressive rock band Änglagård released their debut album "Hybris" on September 14, 1992. But who are Änglagård? They are a six-piece prog rock band from Stockholm, Sweden and they are influenced greatly by the great prog rock of the early 70s. They consist of founders Tord Lindman (lead vocals, guitar) and Johan Hogberg (bass) as well as Jonas Engdegard (guitars), Thomas Johnson (keyboards), Anna Holmgren (flute) and Mattias Olsson (drums, percussion). I love the look of a prog rock band with a full-time flutist and this album was very popular in the progressive community. Let's see what Änglagård is all about!

The album kicks off with "Jordrök" and it's the only song on the album that is entirely instrumental. Johnson starts things off by himself on piano and he plays some pretty cool stuff that sounds a bit haunting and pretty epic. After nearly a minute some other instruments finally join the fray as drums, bass and guitars all come in and combine to form a pretty cool riff that is definitely very progressive. The transition was nicely done and this new louder part has some cool guitar, bass, drums and some different keyboards that aren't quite as epic but still sound solid. This loud part eventually starts to fade out as they transition nicely once again to a quiet new part with some cool light guitar and piano. Holmgren finally joins in with some lead flute and it sounds pretty cool overtop this epic and prog-y backdrop. From there Johnson plays some good old church organ and it sounds pretty awesome. He then switches from organ to a different, techno-y keyboard but that sounds pretty cool in it's own right and it's a nice segue to another loud section with great contributions from everyone. Johnson's keyboards and Holmgren's flute particularly sound great and these guys are just switching from section to section so fluidly, I love the progressiveness! After another great loud part things take a brief turn to the dark and depressing, and that just makes the emergence back into the cool prog rock sound that much more epic. We hear a short but pretty cool little guitar solo and it carries beautifully into a new part as Anna plays some great flute that nicely takes us to the end of this eleven minute song. A fantastic introduction to Änglagård: cool music from all six members and some lovely segues between epic and awesome parts! Up next is the twelve minute "Vandringar I Vilsenhet" and Holmgren opens things with a soft flute riff that sounds pretty cool and we then hear some keyboards in the background and a light guitar riff that matches the mood nicely. This soft but cool opening goes on for over two minutes until Johnson's keyboards start to slowly take things in a new direction and Olsson finally joins with some cymbals and drums that get louder and louder until things culminate in a cool new riff that's led by some cool guitar but also has some cool flute and keyboards. After about three and a half minutes we finally have the album's first verse as Lindman begins to sing lightly in Swedish. I don't mind that the lyrics aren't English, but Lindman's voice is kind of weird and to me he sounds a bit like a fairy child from the forest. The music continues to be solid and also has kind of a forest-y/elven vibe, but I'm not a fan of Lindman's singing and I think it takes away from what is otherwise some cool music. The verse gets louder as it goes on and then they show off their progressiveness with another nice segue to another new section. Hogberg plays a cool bass riff and Engdegard and Lindman both play some solid light guitar, but then Lindman opens his mouth again and we hear another lacklustre verse. After this verse Holmgren plays some cool new flute that takes center stage and everyone else builds nicely around it for another very prog-y, pretty cool part that has bits of great contributions from everyone. Things quiet down as they shift to another new part with Olsson keeping the beat with some marching drums and they do a great job of starting off quiet and slowly building up until everyone is playing some loud, cool music. They very slowly start to fade out until eventually things come to a finish. The singing is not my favourite, but thankfully there wasn't too much of it and most of the song was still cool stuff. Track 3 is "Ifrån Klarhet Till Klarhet" and it starts off with what almost sounds like circus music for the first twenty seconds in a very strange opening; then suddenly the band erupts right into the middle of a rockin' riff that has the synths synced up with one guitar for a loud main riff and the other guitar, bass, drums and flute all adding bits and pieces of great stuff that all somehow combines to make one coherent and pretty sweet riff. I love it when everything stops and the keyboards get a few seconds alone and after this wonderful opening the music quiets right down as Lindman begins to sing the verse. He sounds better on this track than he did on the last one I think, but it's still not my cup of tea and the whole verse isn't nearly as exciting as the instrumental opening. After the verse one guitar keeps going and leads nicely into a new riff as the other guitarist and the keyboards start to form a new riff around it. Bass and then drums fall in as this new riff is quiet but sounds pretty epic. Finally the flute comes in and Holmgren ends up taking the lead for a little bit with some nice flute and then they nicely return to some more loud and awesome stuff. This song has just the one early verse so the rest of it is left for a bunch of cool instrumental stuff, especially Johnson playing some great keyboards. We hear some "ohhhing" from what sounds like a choir in the background and it adds to the epicness as they close out another largely pretty sweet song. The next song is the longest at about 13 minutes and it's called "Kung Bore". It opens with a nice fast-paced guitar riff and the piano syncs up with it perfectly to make things a little louder. Bass and drums then join in and the piano switches to keyboards and finally the flute joins to complete this epic and cool main riff. After two minutes or so things quiet right down as they nicely shift into a new riff with some light guitars in the background and Holmgren leading the way on flute. Lindman begins to sing a verse overtop this quiet riff and I'm still not a big fan of his singing style. He sings a couple verses and choruses before things shift back to the heavier/louder side and we hear some cool prog-y music with solid contributions from everyone. They continue to alternate between quieter and louder parts and it makes things sound really epic every time they shift back to the loud stuff which has some great drums, guitars, flutes and keyboards. Lindman briefly speaks a new verse and it's pretty bad that I liked his talking voice better than his singing voice. It's a short little verse and then the music takes off once again with some slow but very epic stuff. Johnson plays some great keyboards in the closing few minutes and we hear some cool guitars from both Lindman and Engdegard as well as bits of nice fast drumming from Olsson. They finally close out this long epic song with Holdmgren playing a nice final flute part that brings things to a nice ending. This is where the original album ended but there is a bonus song to finish us off titled "Gånglåt Från Knapptibble" and it has a pretty psychedelic opening as we hear some strange and offbeat stuff from everyone that I think sounds pretty cool; even though some might hear it as random noise I like this psychedelic opening that keeps you guessing and it reminds me of King Crimson a lot. Out of this psychedelia they explode into the main driving riff which has some cool flute leading the way and some solid guitars, bass and keyboards keeping things going. Things sound great, until Lindman begins to sing a verse and he doesn't sound awful, but I certainly don't think he's helping either. The music is great though and thankfully there's not that much singing and we get to focus on all the cool fast bits everyone is playing. Things eventually funnel into a keyboard riff that sounds like it's fading away, but it never really goes away and we hear some epic wordless vocals overtop. The flute nicely takes the lead for a bit and then it's the keyboards in the spotlight and they build things up wonderfully for the band to snap into a loud and fairly heavy riff that sounds pretty awesome. They nicely jam out this riff, pausing briefly for another short sub-par verse,  but otherwise ending the song with possibly the best part as I can't help but bang my head along with the cool music.

That is the end of "Hybris" and I thought it was a pretty cool album and an excellent throwback to the 70s prog-rock of legend. The instrumental opener "Jordrok" was my favourite song and I thought it was particularly awesome but all the other tracks are solid as well. I'm not a fan of Tord Lindman's singing, but thankfully there isn't a ton of it and most of the album is instrumental. All six members sound solid and they combine beautifully to play some of the best prog rock we've heard in a long time. Where will Änglagård go from here? I look forward to finding out!