FRÅN EN PLATS DU EJ KAN SE

The Swedish prog rock band "Beardfish" was formed in the year 2000 and "Från en plats du ej kan se" from 2003 was their debut record. I have listened to it several times now and have hard to let it go, it is so good and rich of great music. The musicians were Rikard Sjöblom (vocals, guitar and keyboards), David Zackrisson(guitar), Stefan Aronsson(keyboards, flute), Robert Hansen(bass) and Magnus Östgren(drums) and the cover has a picture taken from high up on a sky scraper, perhaps in New York or in another modern environment. These listenings were very interesting in many ways.

Three of the songs are sung in Swedish and that is fantastic. A band should sing in their mother's tongue. But also the songs with English lyrics are fantastic. Actually the whole record is so fantastic. "Från en plats du ej kan se" the title track, is a mixture of folk rock and intelligent progressiv rock with a lot of power, some parts are really heavy. The singer has a very unique voice and every instrument do their things. "Today" has a lovely sweaping melody and "Poison Ivy and the full monty" is truely symphonic and lovely. "Brother" is softer and very fine and "Spegeldans" is a very interesting track just as "Om en utväg fanns" with funny lyrics. "A psychic amplifier" has organs that very much reminds me of great prog of the seventies and that is a musical journey I recommend every proger to experience. Totally, the whole record has so much interesting features and I was early amazed and surprised that the band was so good so early in their career. I think I am right when I say that Beardfish is one of the very best prog bands in modern days. My favourite songs here are "Från en plats du ej kan se", "Today", "Poison ivy and full monty" and "A Psychic Amplifier".

Beardfish makes modern progressiv music with a unique style even though it appeals to me, a listener who prefer the seventies' prog before modern versions. This is a beautiful record I recommend warmly!