NU NÄRMAR VI OSS.

I continue my 1974 journey with an internationaly unknown Swedish "progg" record "Nu närmar vi oss avgrunden" by the band "Avgrunden". It was recorded in november 1974 and released 1975. The Swedish progg movemevent was principally political and included folk music, prog rock, pop rock, hard rock, avant garde and visor(close to ballad). Avgrunden only made one record and exhibits a music full of different instruments, some time changes and a happy melodic feeling you can find in some jazz rock or light symphonic rock bands. The lyrics are very political in a socialistic spirit. In many ways the movement was very naive and made silly conclusions but the presence of belief makes the lyrics important. The rich fauna of instruments is also a general ingredient of this type of music.

Avgrunden consisted of Torbjörn(Tobe) Engström who played electric piano, nail piano, grand piano, vocals and saxophone, Raimo Juntonen who played electric guitar, violin, vocals, kettle-drum, flute, cow-bell, harmonica, saw, acoustic guitar, mandolin and maraccas, Sven Olof (Figge) Lorentzen who played clarinet, vocals, electric guitar and acoustic guitar, Lars-Olof(Lasse) Nyström who played bas, contrabas and vocals, Janos Szakacs who played electric guitar, vocals, mandolin, talk and grand piano and finally Thomas Åkermark wo played drums and tambourin.

I have the old vinyl from MNW which also contains a nice booklet with the lyrics. I guess it's hard to find this record but that's also part of the allure. The short instrumental intro and outro "Signaturen" is pleasant and vital but if we talk about instrumentals,"Mexico" is better, a very enjoyable thing in different velocities. The lyrical and fine played "En annorlunda sommarvisa" is a highlight as well as "Skräckäventyr". Many of the songs are very political and discusses problems in the seventies that of course could be related to this modern age too such as "Gamsången", "Avgrundslagen" and "Aldrig i livet". Constantly the songs are well played, has interesting lyrics and the music is progressive too, a mixture of styles, a bit jazz and a bit rock. My song to song rating ends at 3.8 stars which becomes a four star rating and a record I really recommend. The best songs are: "Avgrundlagen" and "Mexico".