Review Summary: Great debut of the Swedish. An excellent dark work.
“Vemod” is the debut studio album of Anekdoten that was released in 1993. The line up on the album is Nicklas Berg, Anna Sofi Dahlberg, Jan Erik Liljestrom and Peter Nordins. The album had also the participation of Per Wiberg and Par Ekstrom.
Anekdoten is a Swedish progressive rock band that was founded in 1990 in the city of Borlange in Sweden. Their music is clearly associated with the progressive rock of the 70’s, especially with the achievements of King Crimson. They’re recognized for the excellent use of Mellotron in their compositions and for the heavy and traveling sound, dominated by the bass. The band started as a cover of King Crimson in 1990 by Nicklas Berg, Jan Erik Liljestrom and Peter Nordins, under the name of King Edward. In 1991 Anna Sofi Dahlberg joined the group and the band was renamed to Anekdoten.
Anekdoten remains as one of the brightest points on the progressive rock map. Despite the clear influences of King Crimson, the originality of their music consists of an atmosphere created by some intense, dark and dynamic sounds, reminiscent of metal, gothic and post-rock. In 1993 Anekdoten released their debut album “Vemod”, received extremely warmly by the international progressive rock community. The King Crimson’s influence was obvious, but others can be finding like Anglagard, Van Der Graaf Generator and Magma. The great success of their debut album later turned into a promotional and at the same times their first live tour in Europe and North America. In 1994 they played at the Progfest.
The sound is mostly of King Crmson’s mid-period, especially “Red”. The instrumentation has a lot of similarities with King Crimson, but beyond that, the harmonies and melodic intervals they use recall King Crimson, as well as Anglagard and maybe a bit of French Zeuhl. They’ve a heavy bass sound, and the guitarist does often sounds like Robert Fripp, both in tone and style, even going so far as to cop a few Fripp licks in his solos. But, the main carachteristic of the music is the massive use of Mellotron. There are some nice passages where two Mellotrons are used at the same time. The sound is rather “produced”, so there is no mistaking this for a long lost mid-70’s album. The musicianship is solid and heavy, yet there are no flashy solos or technical tours-de-force that might push this towards the prog metal realm.
My version of “Vemod” consists only of seven tracks, mostly in the 7-8 minute range. There are two instrumentals, and the rest have vocals, in English, which fit quite well with the mood of the music. “Karelia” is an instrumental track that starts the album. It starts with an obscure sound that defines the atmosphere that will be found throughout the album. The way the music flows is smooth and strong at the same time. The song comes to an end quite heavily. “The Old Man And The Sea” has a strong instrumental moment of about a minute and a half before the vocals appear for the first time. The vocal line is relatively flat and as the music grows it also becomes more complex. The influence of King Crimson is evident with the guitar as a reminiscent of Fripp. “Where Solitude Remains” guides to a fast musical path combining heavy bass lines, furious drums and a well centered Mellotron. The vocals are good and close to the end, there’s a jazz style guitar solo, enriched with the Mellotron and an accentuated drum work. “Thought In Absence” is a beautiful and relaxed song with fragile vocals. It starts with beautiful guitar, then slow drums and the bass accompanying the vocal line. It’s serene and melodic, very beautiful. It serves as an interval of complexity and rests the listener. “The Flow” is an amazing song. The band returns to some more complex passages in a combination of Crimsonian guitars, Melotron, solid bass lines and pulsating drums. Despite having a dark atmosphere, it also manages to sound edifying. “Longing” is a beautiful instrumental that combines an excellent guitar work and cello strokes. The Mellotron in some moments accentuates the music creating a sound landscape in the background that makes it even charming. “Whell” brings the album back to a stormy sound. It’s a composition based on Mellotron. Equally very raging, it’s another impressive track where again there are contrasts with beautiful vocal melodies and rabid guitars. This track closes the album beautifuly.
Conclusion: “Vemod” is an excellent album. The ensemble is coherent, well executed and the black atmosphere is accentuated by the singer’s voice timbre and the parsimonious and the well found use of the classical instruments and dissonances. If you like progressive rock made in a sadder and more melancholy sound, you will certainly find this album rewarding. I wonder whether bands such as Anekdoten or Landberk were a decisive influence to post rock bands like Sigur Ros or Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Definitively, this is an essential album for my taste, and one of the great prog works of the 90’s. So, even if I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this band is taking over from Robert Fripp, I’m still thinking you can find some space to accommodate it between “In The Court Of The Crimson King” and “Red”.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
