ANGLAGARD: Hybris

Anglagard

Hybris

© 2003 Änglagård

CD permanently out of stock. Sorry!

Mellotron drenched debut from the 90´s most important and influential swedish progressive rock band.

notes

In the summer of 1991 Tord Lindman and Johan Högberg were looking for musicians with an interest for the progressive and innovative music of the early seventies. Thomas Johnson and Jonas Engdegård replied to their ads and eventually they met and listened to each others material. They became friends very fast and started writing and arranging songs immediately. In September Mattias Olsson joined the group and influenced the music with his classical training as a drummer. Anna Holmgren joined Änglagård in the spring of 1992 replacing the previously engaged flute player.
With their line-up completed the band played several appreciated concerts in their hometown Stockholm. In April they visited Studio Largen and recorded a demo. The following two months were spent rehearsing and arranging the material for their first album "Hybris". The record was the result of not only four months hard work in the studio but the harvest of a one year struggle of creating music far from the commercial, musical nonsense of today. The progressive rock scene raved about the album and eventually the band was invited to play at the annual Progfest in L.A. in May 1993.
The new track "Gånglåt från Knapptibble" was recorded in August 1993, because the English magazine Ptolemaic Terrascope wanted to release a single to come with the magazine. It was during a period of energetic flow that the song (which is an early version of "Skogsranden" from the "Epilog"-album) grew to something crazy and funny. In December the band toured the U.S. playing their own compositions as well as a couple of cover-versions.

"Epilog" was recorded in the summer of 1994. While "Hybris" featured some moments of somberness, "Epilog" finds this emotion intensified in an all-instrumental setting which is sometimes aggressive, sometimes contemplative and almost always heavy with wistfulness and stoicism. The music sometimes sounds closer to the band's Scandinavian roots than the more overt symphonic progressive of their first album. Flute and mellotron are both given prominent roles in defining the morose nature of the sound here, while electric guitar and organ are often at the forefront of the harder sections.
At this time the band was already falling apart. In November Änglagård headlined the first day of the Progfest in L.A., which would become their last concert. The band stopped rehearsing and writing. A year later they met again to edit the recordings made during the Progfest which were eventually released as "Buried Alive".

THE END

Well, not really. 2002 saw the band rehearsing again, without Tord Lindman, though. "Wether it is an annoying nostalgia thing or an actual effort time will tell", said Mattias Olsson.
After countless rehearsals the band finally returned to the stage in June 2003, playing a highly anticipated headlining show in their hometown Stockholm. Eventually they appeared at the German Freakshow-Festival and at NEARfest in the United States, both a huge success for the band and an unforgettable experience for the audience. After a few more shows in France and Belgium, Änglagård are currently taking a break, focusing on their jobs, families and other musical activities.

reviews

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  • Bloody Good!
    author: Grant

    All i can say is great CD. The music is awesome and very atmospheric. Even though it reminded me of many 70's prog bands the sound was still quite original

  • Breathtaking progressive rock!
    author: Diane

    Hybris is one of the best progressive albums I have heard in the last decade or so. The songs have such a wide range of dynamics-from lush, classical passages to hard rocking mayhem. The musicianship is superb, and I especially was enamored with the heavy use of mellotron. My regret is that I did not hear of Anglagard until recently, as I would have loved to see them perform.

  • Absolutely brilliant!
    author: 30 Years Later

    For anyone like me having lived through the ascent and demise of symphonic rock in the seventies, this is a real revelation. It has all the energy, dynamism and playfulness of the very best albums I once cherished. All this comes with great originality and a strong Swedish identity, although cleary inspired by the wider experimental music scene as it was three decades ago. This album will give you a real adventure to discover, as long as you have a decent degree of open-mindedness. I wish I had known about it at the time of its release.

  • A true modern classic
    author: Prog kid

    This band really rocks. Killer doistorted rickenbacker bass, howling Mellotrons and soothing flaute. This is a prog classic. The four original tracks are in my opinion up there with the kings of progressive. Influenced by bands such as Genesis, King Crimson and Shylock Änglagård mixed it up with norwegian folk music and created something unique and magical. Definitely one of my top ten albums of all time....

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