KINGDOM OF SADNESS

Another band from Sweden, which contributed in its own way to the Scandinvian revival of Prog during the 90's.It is unclear when the band was formed, possibly sometime around mid-90's, featuring Simon Says' drummer Mattias Jarlhed along with guitarist Ola Sivefäldt, bassist/guitarist Anders Lindgren and keyboardist John Lönnmyr.They recorded their debut in February/March 1998 at the Kappelet Studio in Falköping and the album was released the same year on Record Heaven under the title ''Kingdom of Sadness''.

The eponymous track is the absolute highlight of the album.Based on a furious groove and the fast piano paces of Lönnmyr, it goes through many changing tempos with impressive guitar parts and great work on Mellotron, containing also superb breaks along the way, much in the vein of LANDBERK and ANEKDOTEN, maybe a bit more modern.''Cold'' is another good piece of modern Prog opening with warm vocals and a melancholic piano theme and growing into a powerful chorus with sharp synthesizers and a grandiose atmosphere.The middle part though closes to spacey soundscapes with some hypnotic bass lines and acoustic guitars.''Memories'' follows the same form, more or less.Smooth introduction, powerful and intense chorus and an energetic ending, which grows from slighly experimental atmospheres to dynamic Heavy Prog.The longest track of the album, entitled ''Deep'', sounds a bit incosistent, still contains some really cool moments.It reminds me strongly of the diverse music of PAIN OF SALVATION with unrelated styles stuck together in a inspirational way and scanning the music of acts such as RUSH, KING CRIMSON and even A.C.T., trying to blend the hard face of Prog music with more melodic textures.Again the keyboard and piano work of Lönnmyr is at moments phenomenal.

Great debut by a band that desrved more fame.The first track is a killer one, the rest are also nice examples of Progressive Rock music heading to the millenium.Fresh and adventurous material, definitely strongly recommended...3.5 stars.