ÁGÆTIS BYRJUN

Sigur Ros' music has always been from another planet for me. And I'm afraid I'm a bit too much down to earth to understand or appreciate this kind of music. PA's guidelines expect us to remain civilized and respectful to the bands we review so I will do my very best here. Of course I could have stayed away from this band (or even the entire sub genre to be honest) but as I stated before I feel a prog reviewer has to reveal where he or she stands with all kinds of prog. So here we go.

The short intro has nothing to offer so that's already a downside. Svefn-G-Englar was the track that gave me the shivers (but not down the spine really) first time I listened to it. Besides the fact it sounds pretty creepy I also noticed it gets repetitive halfway. The song drags on for too long and the useless fade out last minute doesn't help either. After six minutes suddenly Radiohead comes barging in it seems but since I'm not a big fan of them either it's another minus for this first (real) song. Next up is the highly praised Starálfur and I have to say it's indeed one of the better on this supposed masterpiece. The vocals are less annoying and the melody is dreamy and somewhat captivating. But also here a strange ending obviously was needed to make the song more special. Flugulfrelsarinn goes on in the same vein but sounds a lot more boring to me. Ný Batterí opens with weakish flute and other wind instruments. Creepy keysounds give the impression the trip in outer space continues. I can't get used to the vocals either. Jonsi's voice is probably meant to mesmerize the fans but I'm afraid it doesn't work with me. Well, I will not go into the whole album. The tone is set, both by Sigur Ros as by me and I fear we will not be a match at any moment in time.

Leaves the final rating as a bit of a problem. Somehow I can hear this is a bit of a special album, that is if I try to be as open minded as possible. But this band's music is so extremely far away from my musical taste and interest that two stars is the very maximum I can do (1,5). Unfortunately I have many more albums from this band because they were for sale here at that moment so I don't exclude the possibility I will review more of their albums. I hope for the band I will not and actually I hope for myself the same ...