EPILOG

I always considered Anglagard one of the most typical progbands ever. I mean if you wonder what prog is like or if a newbee would ask me I would say: take a shot at Anglagard with either of their studio albums and you get a pretty good idea (to say the least).

Hybris consisted of 6 songs, all clocking between 5 and 14 minutes whilst Epilog is much more extreme where the playing times are concerned. One of just a few seconds, two of exactly two minutes and the other three above 10 minutes. I wonder if this is done deliberately or that things simply turned out this way. Personally I prefer longer songs so my attention goes to the three mini-epics. From these three the longest, Höstsejd is the most challenging one; great variation, some experimentation alternated with much more catchy moments. Sista Somrar is a bit more coherent and all in all more accessible than the larger epic. Leaves Skogsranden as most gloomy as well as most laid back of the three (I mainly love the flute in the 8th minute). The short opener (Prolog) and closer (Saknadens Fullhet) are pretty good but too short to evaluate in a copious way, let alone Rösten (0:14).

Everything considered I feel both studio releases by Anglagard are essential for true progfans but that doesn't mean I consider them masterpieces. But both score the 4 stars easily. Hybris was more a 4,25 case to me whereas Epilog is something like rounded up from 3,75. At least I'm glad I spent my time discovering them. By the way, the cover art is great even though I'm usually not really into those things. Recommended !