ONE TRAIL TO HEAVEN

IN THE LABYRINTH is the brainchild of Swedish songwriter and multi-intrumentalist Peter Lindahl. From the mid to late 1990s he has produced three albums under this moniker. Now a new compilation includes the most fascinating compositions, some previously unreleased material as well as alternate versions of songs from Peter's exclusive personal archive. So all in all the songs represent a timeframe from 1993 to 2004. You can expect atmospheric nordic folk blended with psychedelic respectively Middle Eastern elements coming from sitar, saz, tabla aso, mostly presented by Håkan Almkvist who collaborates on nearly every track.

Hence this is far away from a one-man show definitely, Lindahl is supported by a bunch of musicians as for the instrumental and vocal attendance. Multiple impressions are worked in coming from a wide range of common and exotic instruments like arch lute or quena for example. In order to point out some exceptional songs - Karakoram Waltz convinces, due to a fantastic combination of flute, mellotron and guitar this is such a lovely thing. And including celestial female vocals the wonderfully melancholic Deep Saffron gives me the shivers everytime I listen.

On the couple Night Of The Baskerville Killer and The Endless City the band comes out of the wood really when offering some psychedelic and spacey attitude. Featuring ethereal moments, sugar-sweet melodies and charming harmonies this is certainly designated for some relaxing. 'One Trail To Heaven' is another excellent release on Trail Records, in best tradition so to say. When you're awaiting some ambient ethno/folk music this will be the right track - 3.5 stars.