Reviews

Vemod reviews

Dean Suzuki, I/E Anekdoten is yet another remarkable progressive group from Scandinavia. Taking a cue from Anglagard, they have struck out on their own with this self-produced and released CD (a limited edition LP version is also available from Colours). That they borrow liberally from early and especially middle-period King Crimson is undeniable: in fact, at times they present themselves as a clone band, but one which plays with all of the ferocity and musicality of the original. Additonally, the group is also influenced by the instrumental and compositional style of Yes, though this influence is not as pervasive. Of special note is bassist Jan Erik Liljestrom, who captures the snarling, buzzing sound and style of John Wetton, as formed somewhat by that of Chris Squire. Guitarist Nicklas Berg borrows liberally from the Fripp method, with a bit of Steve Howe thrown in. The opening track ”The Old Man and The Sea” (sic), has elements of the mellotron epic (the group sports two mellotron players!) that sounds primarily like similar works by Crimson, but with echoes of ”Heart of the Sunrise”. One point of weakness is Liljestrom´s singing. Adequate, but never compelling, the group either needs to find a strong lead vocalist or forcus on their complex and savage instrumental strength. One can quibble with the sometimes all-too-close modelling after King Crimso, but not with Anekdoten´s musicality, which is monstrous.

Alan Freeman, Audion Well, first for the 90´s from Sweden we had Landberk, then the even greater Änglagård, and now Sweden´s unashamed answer to the great King Crimson: the phenomenally powerful Anekdoten. To say the least, Anekdoten are quite an extraordinary quartet: Nicklas Berg has seriously taken the Robert Fripp guitar style to heart, and also has a touch of abstract jazziness in the vein of early Allan Holdsworth (circa ‘Igginbottoms Wrench’), he can be both raucous and subtle (he also plays Mellotron): Jan Erik Liljeström is much more than your average bassist, he tends to to fill out the sound with solos rather than straight riffing, on the heavy tracks he can rip out a sound close to Jannick Top in his heyday, he´s also the lead vocalist with a style close to John Wetton: then there´s drummer Peter Nordin, who doesn´t really sound like Bill Bruford, but more like a mixture of the fury of Christian Vander crossed with the nimbleness of Jon Hiseman: and last, but not least, Ankekdoten´s star wild-card Anna Sofi Dahlberg, a classically trained cellist, she also plays Mellotron and does some vocals. Apparently, at one time Anekdoten´s repertoire was solely King Crimson songs, and although there´s some deliberate King Crimson cliché rip-offs here, Anekdoten have created a music that does things that King Crimson would probably never have thought of, and there´s that underlying oddness and vitality that permeates Swedish music. To go into detail on the seven individual tracks would I´m sure ruin the surprises in store for the purchaser, but I will say this, that although Anekdoten have a style, every track on the album is quite different, from the devastating opening instrumental Karelia to the dreamy ballad Longing which is close to the quieter moments of Landberk. Closest to King Crimson is The Flow, almost a rewrite of One more Red Nightmare. Anekdoten make a fantastic and visionary music that , dare I say it, leaves Robert Fripp´s 80´s attempt to resurrect King Crimson way behind. Okay, maybe it´s not quite the masterpiece that Änglagård´s HYBRIS is, but it is pretty damn close. Anekdoten apparently played at a festival in Sweden recently together with Änglagård, Landberk and a newly reformed Samla Mammas Manna. I wish I´d known about it sooner!

Michael Draine, Boston Rock This Swedish quartet distills the vital essences of Red-era King Crimson into their own potent infusion, at once vitriolic and darkly poetic. A master of Fripp´s sabre-toothed attack pattern, guitarist Nicklas Berg traces trails of flame above an agile, pugilistic rhythm section, underpinned by sonorous cello and mellotron fills. Off-key vocals and wan philosophical musings constituten the weak link in Anekdoten´s armor, but their infernal abandon and instrumental puissance render objections irrelevant.

Xavier Russell, Kerrang! (Points: Krusty) Take a pinch of Skyclad and add a heaped tablespoon of Jethro Tull, put ‘em in a blender and with any lukk, out will pop Sweden´s very own Anekdoten. Not my kup of PROGGY TEA, as it takes a very patient ear to get into the music on ”Vemod”. The majority of their odd repertoire would sit very komfortably on a ”Nekromantik” soundtrakk album yeah, it´s that depressing! You only have to take a kloser look at the song titles to see where Anekdoten are koming from: ”The Old Man And The Sea” and ”Thoughts In Absence” are both extremely HEAVY GOING. The kulprit is cellist Anna Sofi Dahlberg. Her playing kan´t be faulted; it´s just a krying shame that her instrument sound so sad and eerie throughout. Still, it´s a must for MANIK DEPRESSIVES!

Louis Hesselt-van-Dinter, Music Uncovered Let me breathe for a minute. I´m still a little dizzy from the sonic assault of Vemod. This is prog with a sharp edge. Distorted choppy guitar, aggressive thudding bass, wailing mellotrons and a cello. A cello! Anekdoten is from Sweden, a country considered by many to be the center of the modern prog universe. They started out life as a King Crimson cover band. From the sounds of Vemod, I´d say they played mostly Red era stuff. Niklas Berg plays guitar and mellotron, Anna Sofi Dahlberg plays cello and mellotron, Jan Erik Liljestrom plays bass, and Peter Nordin is the drummer. Both Anna and Jan sing. All the vocals are in English. Their playing is uniformly exceptional While the songs are primarily over-the-top aggressive, there is a few slower gems. One is a strikingly beautiful ballad, ”Thoughts In Absence”. Another, a haunting piece titled ”Longing” features mostly cello and acoustic guitar. Even though the majority of the music on Vemod is extremely ”heavy”, it never really falls into the prog-metal category. An incredible recording! Definitely music to get excited about. You need one.

Nucleus reviews

Phil Kime, Gibraltar Digest Initial reactions I came across were mildly disconcerting as they seemed akin to the rather, in my opinion, unthinking laudation that, in certain quarters, has come to be applied to anything from the environs of Sweden. The recent White Willow release, for example, being subject to far more encomium than it deserves. Thus, fearing an inverse correlation between eulogy and worth in this case, I forced more listens before committing to print. I must admit to being too sensitive on this point: there is hardly anything amiss with this release, given its scope. Anekdoten have certainly, as promised, defined their approach and reduced their explicit debt to _Red_-era King Crimson, although it is still to be found in abundance to the attentive audience. They have, in certain respects, moved towards the melodic ambience of Landberk, notably on "Here" and in the vocal lines of "Harvest." The vocals are, as before, generally quite weak but innocuous enough. The album is redolent with their noted post-Crimson thick bass tone, brought out far better in the mix this time. It really comes to the fore in the heaviest track on the album "Rubankh." Some nice percussive guitar overlaid on this track. "Raft," a short quiet mellotron noise interlude, leads into this much in the way that _Thrak_ opens. Turning the volume up to hear it is not a good idea. Anekdoten have adopted the mellotron to the extent that Anglagard reached in their second album. It is good to hear people using it as an integral instrument rather than a gratuitous retrospective nostalgia trigger. There are some very tasteful hand drums in "Harvest." The percussion overall is good and, at times, quite poignant. There are some satisfyingly interesting odd beats added in appropriate places. A nice pastoral falling figure opens "Book of Hours" which later contains a guitar line almost verbatim from Crimson's "Fallen Angel" but is otherwise a nicely constructed song with slightly overdone mellotron support. "This Far From the Sky" opens abruptly with guitar culled from _Exposure_ and a rolling bass line decorated with nice frills. The percussion here is a little too monotone. The second subject arrives with a tritone laden guitar part that sounds tantalisingly like Doctor Nerve. The mellotron has been produced to sound extremely ancient on this track and thus recalls _Lizard_ considerably. A slightly weak ending that sounds as if nothing else could be thought of except a rather clichd fade and restatement close. Quite experimental in places and with much more texture overall, this moves Anekdoten the closest they have come to Anglagard's masterful _Epilog_. "In Freedom" has a nice melody delivered in male/female harmony. The cello is largely homeopathic. The mellotron production is noticeably hiss-laden towards the end. In all honesty, I cannot say that Anekdoten receive much credit for originality as their debts are obviously still overwhelming. However, this is not relevant to an assessment of musical worth, merely the partitioning of credit between possible areas. I would not laud the members overmuch for their creativity but the music is fine and highly recommended.

Martin Hudson, Wondrous Stories (Points: 5 out of 6) After hearing this new album once, I thought Malcolm Parker was losing his marbles describing it as ”the best album I have heard in years”, but never take anything simply on face value. To delve further into this album of eight tracks prove to be quite an adventure. It is not conventional prog, but progressive is a word that must surely apply to Anekdoten as they meander through a world of heavy riffs to then drift on to make psychedelic pretty patterns. I felt as if I had heard Nirvana, the Ozric´s, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree and Japan all on the one album after several plays. The best album for years may be going over the top a little but for the heavier minded prog fan or a rock fan who enjoys music with balls, Anekdoten have it. Even a mellotron and a cello! This is Swedish rock that will continue to enhance the countries reputation in music. It will simply appeal to young and old rock fans but play it more than once kid! Think I´ll have another listen to the first album ”Vemod” now.

Nils Hansson, Dagens Nyheter Anekdoten spelar symfonirock utan att bli vare sig pompösa eller nostalgiska. Det är sällsynt. I synnerhet som de flitigt nyttjar mellotron, ett elektroniskt instrument som föll ur bruk när syntarna kom och i dag mest dyrkas av en liten hängiven kult. Nucleus (Virta/Border) är Borlängegruppens andra album på eget bolag, det första har sålt 10 000 världen över och gavs nyligen ut i Japan. Det tar avstamp i King Crimson snarare än Genesis, med en fullkomligt ursinnig energi i komplexa partier, med piskande trummor och brutal bas. Däremellan sköra gläntor av frid, ibland med en klarögd sångröst i någon vek melodi. Sen rasar stormen igen. Pendlingen mellan dessa två lägen är Anekdotens kärna, och alstrar en sällsam spänning.

Fredrik Strömberg, Sundsvalls Tidning (Betyg: Kalkonkatastrof) När jag hade lyssnat igenom Anekdotens skiva Nucleus några gånger kom jag äntligen på vad det var som var fel. Den är för lång. Ungefär 48 minuter för lång. Om man tagit den ackumulerade kvaliteten på denna skiva och gjort en singel hade det blivit Nordman-klass på den. Faktum är att alla låtar är perverst dåliga utom titellåten som bara är halvtaskig.

Geir Larsen, Metal Shuffle (editerad) O barmhjertige verden. Så ble ikke fjoråret helt verdiløst likevel. På tampen av desember mottar Metal Shuffle et rykende ferskt eksemplar av Anekdotens 2 utgivelse. Bandet holder hus i Sverige, og deres mesterverk-debut ”Vemod” (93) er av undertegnede pluss mister Kvam kåret til hennholdsvis nestbeste og beste plate på 90-tallet. Bandet, som er en kvartett, har gjort det umulige - de har utrolig nok maktet å følge opp en av tidenes aller, aller ypperste debut-LPer. Samtidigt har de utviklet seg....Anekdoten står for primær, utsøkt progressiv rock, og for deg som går rundt og tror at vi med progrock mener de vassne og bleke utgivelsen på Si Music, må vi skuffe. Vår alles kjære, eventyrlige Anekdoten har tatt opp arven der King Crimson slapp den i 1974. Den store forskjellen er imidlertid at dette er så ubegripelig mye røffere enn King Crimson noensinne var...Her følger ”rolige” spor side om side med de mer obskure - her er varme og isøde, engasjement og innlevelse, tonn på tonn av emosjoner, eksepsjonellt dyktig instrumentalitet, heftige miksturer av alt det ”god musikk”-grepet dekker, og det hele er ført i regi av et meget originalt band. Deres svenske kolleger i Änglagård maktet aldri att følge opp sin debut, og dessuten ryktes det at de står på tampen av fullstendig oppløsning. Med dette i bakhodet resonnerer jeg meg, i delvis trygghet, fram til att pr. datum, januar 1996, er Anekdoten verdens beste band! Og jeg håper for guds skyld ingen hardrockere vil la seg skremme av denne omtalen. Dette er nemlig så inni helvete brutalt at det vil slå beina under deg...Hva låtene angår er absolutt hvert eneste kutt av optimal kvalitet. Jeg mener; det kan ganske enkelt ikke gjøres bedre...Deres unike sound er kreert av forutgående genier, det er tilpasset 90-årene, og det er stort sett musikk som overrasker lytteren. Det er et album som forventer noe av sin tilhører, som engasjerer til å utforske nye og spennende områder. Etterpå vil du (forhåpentligvis) aldri bli den samme. Gjør deg selv den tjeneste som musikkelsker og humant vesen, kjøp denne perlen.

Sean Worrall, Organ As near perfection as its possible to get... dirty filthy distorted clavinets... disgustingly beautiful raunch... they've done the almost impossible and left their vital debut album Vermod [sic] light years behind. This really is unique, and you can't say that about many albums. It can be compared to King Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator at the very best but it's even more dirty and analogue and downright grungy - a melancholic Primus with wailing mellotrons.. it's so distorted and in your face, it sounds like Iron Butterfly at the most excessively distorted... rich.. ferocious in a youthful Fripp way. The drama of the vocals are right up there with Peter Hammill and VDGG. There are the 70's influences but they're about sound texture, the writing is very much to the point... there's as much Tindersticks as King Crimson in here... some of it's wonderfully subtle, and it's a lot more genuine, somehow, than Tindersticks could ever hope to be...Very, very highly recommended

Rob Walker, Exposé Anekdoten's eagerly anticipated sophomore effort proves to be a masterful development and refinement of their heavy and driving progressive sound. While Nucleus certainly adheres to the essence of the band's musical character as defined on Vemod, Anekdoten have, much to their credit, distanced themselves somewhat from the more overt King Crimson stylings found on their first album. The writing has matured as well, with excellent use of dynamics and contrast, and a plethora of solid musical ideas carrying each of the songs along. The heavy riffs and melodies that serve as the foundation for many of the tunes find an even more effective home among the various keyboard and guitar countermelodies which give Nucleus an element of musical intricacy much less prominent on Vemod. The stark and poignant melodic sensibility displayed by some of the quieter sections may remind one of Landberk at times; the musical understatement working because of the busy and aggressive sections framing it. Though still drawing at times on the '70s Crimson sound, Anekdoten have injected a larger dose of originality and creativity into the recipe on Nucleus; but one of many exciting and promising signs for their future. All in all this is an extremely powerful and well conceived album. Nucleus should live up to any and all expectations fans had placed on it.

Darren Bergstein, i/e Anekdoten's second album doesn't downplay the fire and brimstone that so imbued its predecessor, but the fragmentation down to more traditional song structures is quite a diversionary sea-change. Aside from the lengthier "Book of Hours", which recalls edgier symphonic rock moves more than hoary Crimson chestnuts, the band feels inclined to make their presence known in fits and starts instead of epics. Boiled down, the album possesses a tighter version of the galvanizing power vented to chaotic extremes on Vemod. Tranquillity rears its denuded head as well, as on "Here", where some measure of grace works it way through the labyrinthine stretches of mellotron and seared guitar fuzz. Nucleus is a scorching, dynamic work, but by adopting subtler aspirations, Anekdoten's broadened the 'prog' horizon for wider explorations.

A review of Wheel, Anekdoten's homepage

From Jan Erik, May 28 1996: I received a new magazine today called Internetworld. It is a monthly mag, sold in newsstands etc. It is also sent out free to all people that have Internet-connection through Tele2 (Swipnet). Tele2 is Sweden's largest Internet-provider and has about 50,000 subscribers. Under the banner "Uppkopplat" (Connected) they reviewed different kinds of Web-sites. The rock-bands that had their homepages reviewed were: Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, Sisters Of Mercy, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Alice In Chains, Black Crowes, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Jane's Addiction, Kiss and ANEKDOTEN.

The homepage got 4 points out of 10 (which was as much as Sisters Of Mercy's page). Not too bad I must say, considering that for example R.E.M.'s site (which was reviewed under "Pop") got 2 points and Massive Attack's ("Indie") got 2 points!!

The text reads: "Anekdoten is one of several Swedish young bands that play symphonic and progressive rock in the spirit of Genesis and King Crimson. They are relatively unknown in Sweden, but have reached some international success, which is manifested on this British tribute-page. - Robert Svensson (robert.svensson@idg.se)"

ronc@cogs.susx.ac.uk