MYRORNAS FRAMMARSCH

One of the true Swedish prog obscurities, little is known of the band PONDUS that released this one and only album MYRORNAS FRAMMARSCH (The Advance of the Ants) in 1979 on the less than prolific COOP label which ironically has been around since 1971 and seems to have only released a handful of releases. Talk about mysterious, it's not really even known where PONDUS originated except in the late 70s prog scene of Sweden.

The band included Andreas Vera Oritz (piano, flute, percussion), Cliff Sjursvens (bass), Ole Bäck (Guitar, Vocals, Percussion) and Thomas Boberg (Drums, Percussion) and played a rather eccentric style of jazz-rock-fusion mixed with elements of Canterbury Scene, moments of zeuhl, quirky outbursts of Frank Zappa and knotty time signature freak outs in the vein of a more hefty guitar driven Mahavishnu Orchestra. MYRORNAS FRAMMARSCH with its nine tracks sputters along from funky jazz-rock to lush piano rolls and folky flute runs.

"Snoblind" opens with a funk fueled dedication to jazz-rock with progressive overtones in the vein of Soft Machine's "Bundles" album with steady rhythmic cadences punctuated by knotty time signature workouts. "Trippellogik" follows with a lush mix of electric piano jazz antics and acoustic guitar workouts sounding a bit like Al Di Meola meets Iceberg but emphatically in a hurry and on the march like a swarm of hungry ants. Closer to jazz than rock, the distinctive rock percussion firmly anchors this in the world of fusion.

"The Dawn" is one of the rare vocal tracks (thank gawd!) with Ole Black taking up the singing duties. Sounding a bit like Herbie Hancock's funkier era a la "Headhunters," the musical style nevertheless dishes out an interesting procession of jazzy time signature workouts along with light breezy guitar solos in the vein of Pat Metheny. Wafts of Canterbury lurk behind the scenes but occasional rise to the surface only to allow the vocals to emerge. This track sums up the entire PONDUS experience and that is a nonlinear compositional style that decries anything Swedish (vocals excepted) and looks to outside sources for inspiration.

"Kathabraks" continues the "Headhunters" vibe only with a much more progressive rock approach once again borrowed from Soft Machine's "Bundles." Also perhaps the most straight forward track on the album with a spirit lifting glee unlike anything else complete with a Latin jazz segment. "Kjells PV-58" is the shortest track on board just missing the 2 minute mark more in the vein of jazz-fusion artists like Phillip Catherine or Larry Coryell. The track seems unnecessarily truncated but understandable due to the limitations of vinyl releases of the day. The title track bursts onto the scene with a frenetic funky jazz-fusion pyroclastic flow with mind numbing time signatures but then transmogrifies into a tamer beast before dropping down to almost piano ballad territory which with beautiful flute extras. More like early Focus than anything jazz-rock during these moments.

"Livets Låga" is another short vocal track sounding more like a pastoral Genesis track from the "Foxtrot" era only sung in Swedish. Unfortunately these vocal tracks detract from the otherwise intensity of the album's flow which is its strong point. Luckily this lasts less than 3 minutes. "Huggklubben" showcases some stellar virtuosic flamenco guitar workouts which tradeoff with funk fueled cadences laced with excellent proggy time signature rock guitar riffs. One of my favorite tracks actually. "Flumlåten" ends as the album's lengthiest track exceeding seven minutes and showcases a distinct air of first lineup Mahavishnu Orchestra especially on the slower tracks such as "Miles Beyond" from the "Birds Of Fire" album.

PONDUS and its sole album MYRORNAS FRAMMARSCH has all but been completely forgotten by the vast annals of time with only a few hardcore seekers of obscurity keeping it from completely vanishing into the great vastness. The album has never been reissued after its initial 1979 release and original vinyl copies while not requiring a mortgage to obtain are still a bit hefty. This is truly a shame because i've heard so many more less worthy candidates resurrected from the past and finding new life with lush remastering jobs. While PONDUS may have not been the most original band on the block, the strength of this one-shot was in how they aggregated the aforementioned influences into a virtuosic fueled album's run. Personally i love this one although admit that this will hardly go down as a masterpiece of jazz-rock and prog fueled fusion. Still though, well worth the effort of checking out.

3.5 but rounded down for inconsistency