Änglagård discussions

I have Hybris and Viljans Oga. They are really unique albums, but very hard to digest without multiple diligent listens, especially the latter. Definitely not easy listening, but music of that caliber shouldn't be considered as such. I love them both for different reasons. Hybris I prefer, but Viljans Oga is distinctive enough to stand alone as an exceptional prog album.

I actually didn't miss the vocals; it seemed to me the tracks didn't need them to create such a unique set of moods and atmospheres, so including them might have been distracting, as dense as everything already was.

I've found the latest album a lot tougher to listen to than Hybris. I have to give them the benefit of the doubt and persevere if only because the level of musicianship is the very highest. I need more time to 'get it' perhaps.

richardh wrote: I've found the latest album a lot tougher to listen to than Hybris. I have to give them the benefit of the doubt and persevere if only because the level of musicianship is the very highest. I need more time to 'get it' perhaps.

Sadly, as much as it's still rather good, for me the latest one is not a patch on the previous two. It doesn't have that sense of flow, the constant reprises that the first two albums have. Strangely, I also get quite sick of it by about the half way point and rarely hear the album all the way through to the end. It's noisy, fragmented and abrasive, too many little sections and ideas that don't really form together too well.

But...it's certainly not a case of a band running out of ideas. Just a different approach than before, experimenting, and definately not merely repeating themselves. Guess I admire it more than actually like it.

I also noticed that, personally for me, I can think of endless other fairly recent instrumental albums that wipe the floor with it.

Incredible bands.... it's always a good surprise when you find a group of musicians that are dedicated in playing music in a KC way... so inspiring

angelodevita wrote: Does anyone know what the cover art for Hybris means? It looks like a sun, a mandala...but what is the true meaning?

Perhaps it's a tribute to his grandmother as a young girl.

Edited by dr wu23 - July 15 2013 at 22:20

Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote: richardh wrote: I've found the latest album a lot tougher to listen to than Hybris. I have to give them the benefit of the doubt and persevere if only because the level of musicianship is the very highest. I need more time to 'get it' perhaps. Sadly, as much as it's still rather good, for me the latest one is not a patch on the previous two. It doesn't have that sense of flow, the constant reprises that the first two albums have. Strangely, I also get quite sick of it by about the half way point and rarely hear the album all the way through to the end. It's noisy, fragmented and abrasive, too many little sections and ideas that don't really form together too well. But...it's certainly not a case of a band running out of ideas. Just a different approach than before, experimenting, and definately not merely repeating themselves. Guess I admire it more than actually like it. I also noticed that, personally for me, I can think of endless other fairly recent instrumental albums that wipe the floor with it.

angelodevita wrote: dr wu23 wrote: angelodevita wrote: Does anyone know what the cover art for Hybris means? It looks like a sun, a mandala...but what is the true meaning?   Well...all 3 cd's have a picture of a young girl/woman as the cover theme done in different forms.On Epilog the face is  hidden in the woods and if you look carefully the face on Hybris is that of a young woman also.   This is from the unofficial website linked to on wiki.....   Who came up with the bandname? What does it mean? "I think it was Tord. His story was that his grandmother as a young girl had a box with paperdoll pictures of Angels and she called the box Änglagård. A farm of Angels." (Mattias O. in this interview) Perhaps it's a tribute to his grandmother as a young girl. Awesome...makes sense! One thing I saw in one the reviews for Hybris, was that it may be a tribute to KC Larks' Tongue in Aspic. Both albums look similar, with the sun in the center...and not to mention the resemblance between the music

Okay, so I listened to it again a few hours ago, and I've made up my mind: it's a 5 star album for sure. It's just an album that is very easily influenced by the context in which you listen to it, very much more so than others in my collection.

I love these guys! Who doesn't? They're GREAT!

Djam Karet wrote: I love these guys! Who doesn't? They're GREAT!