HIMLABACKEN VOL. 1

I'm a fanboy! It's best to make that clear from the start. So I'm far from objective in my writing. This band has been on my top ten list since their second album [blomljud] hit the prog world with a bang in 2008. Their two latest efforts Lover's End and ep Lover's End Part III (Skellefteå Serenade) are for me two of the finest albums this millennium. To hope for something even better or at least equally good is perhaps a bit too optimistic. And yes, even though I love every moment of Himlabacken Vol. 1 it falls a little short of the two aforementioned albums. But just a little. There are some new directions here that I really like. In a song like Mega Moon which really is like a mini musical it's evident that they try out new ways of expressing what they want to express. The whole concept of depicting young boys lives from young age up to early manhood with family and children in the focus is great and even though I'm twenty years older (or more) than the guys in the band I recognize it all. Something that stands out more and more for every album is Pontus Åkessons guitar! On Himlabacken Vol. 1 he truly shines and gives us some of the best guitar playing you can ever ask for. Buy the album you can't go wrong with this one! The 4 stars are really more like 4 ½ stars!