TARDIGRADE

Symphonic prog from Sweden very much attempting to replicate the sounds and styles of the Masters of the 1970s.

1. "Suddenly The Rain" (14:47) very solid retro symphonic prog; it's quite original despite the frequent reminders of early Genesis--with solid performances all around and really no weaknesses. (27/30)

2. "Tardigrade" (3:43) vocalist Daniel Fäldt has such an unusual singing style--kind of like Donald Fagen trying to sing Gentle Giant. The instrumental skills on display are superlative--with the Hammond performed especially tastefully--and these boys are tight: hitting those stops and turns with the integrity of a BMW or Volvo. (9/10)

3. "The Chosen One" (5:44) opens as a beautiful, emotional soft song with excellent use of the Mellotron, but at the end of the second minute it kicks into high gear like a KANSAS, YES, or THE FLOWER KINGS song. Great variation and embellishment from the keyboards. Excellent Chris Squire-like bass play. (9/10)

4. "Moon Mountain" (2:33) opens with some excellent solo classical guitar before electric joins as a duet at 0:40. Sounds like something Jan Akkerman, Steve Howe, or Chet Atkins would do. Excellent! (4.75/5)

5. "As The River Runs" (10:40) I quite like this despite the obviousness of the first half being a "modern" reflection of GENESIS' "Watcher in the Skies" (a song I've never liked much). There's just so much embellishment and tangential in this to make it all its own. Plus, the musicianship and sound engineering are so solid. (18.25/20)

6. "Your Future" (0:29) a surprisingly wonderful little melodic and mellow solo vocoder piece. (5/5)

7. "Strawberry Jam" (2:32) like a high speed intro to something. For the first 45 seconds the rhythm section is on fire. The lead guitarist and flanged bass really burn it up over the final 30. (4.5/5)

8. "Circle's End" (6:19) acoustic guitars, vocal, flute, and Mellotron give this melodic song a bit of a MOODY BLUES feel. Excellent acoustic guitar work, picking and strumming. The synthesizer solo in the fourth minute is quite reminiscent/imitative of Tony Bank's solo in "Stagnation," but then it turns "Entangled" in the fifth and sixth. The vocal is sparse but very confident and tastefully done. (9.25/10)

9. "Brother Where You Bound" (26:33) (45.75/50)

10. "Beautiful New Day" (0:43) more multi-acoustic guitar strumming over which Daniel gives us a John Paul Jones-like finish. (4.5/5)

Total Time: 74:11

Though I could appreciate what the artists were attempting to do from the first listen, it took me many listens in order to begin to enjoy this album. Kind of like all NEMO albums. I found the vocals especially difficult to adjust to. It was actually their much more accessible song contributions to the Colossus Magazine/Musea Records theme projects that allowed me to begin to engage and enjoy the style and work of this band.

3/8/2023 edit: I've finally made the time to sit down and really listen, really get to know this album and I have to say that all of my previous judgements were premature: this is a true masterpiece of retro symphonic progressive rock music, albeit of the retro/imitative kind. Though early Genesis and, to a lesser extent, Yes are the models for the music and individual styles on this album, the compositions are quite unique, sophisticated, performed at consistently high levels, and admirably well-engineered. I now consider this an overlooked, misunderstood masterpiece from our not-too-distant past. And I now feel remiss that I did not "get" Daniel Fäldt before: he's so confident and laid-back; it really takes guts to sing like that--and to compose the way these guys did--knowing the demands they were putting on their instrumental skills.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of symphonic progressive rock music. Highly recommend to all prog lovers with the requirement that you give this multiple listens.