Gösta Berlings Saga, a Swedish instrumental/progressive band named after an old novel by Selma Lagerlöf (in 1891, later translated to English in 1911). In 1924, it was also made into a silent movie with Greta Garbo. So you might want to check that movie out.
The band covers a variety of styles including some folk, retro sound, and hints of jam/space rock. They follow in other Swedish band‘s footsteps such as. Änglagård, Anekdoten, Trettioåriga Kriget, Råg I Ryggen to name a few. In no way is Gösta Berlings Saga a clone of any of those bands, in fact for the most part Gösta Berlings Saga is not as dark as some of the Änglagård and earlier Anekdoten album. Plus being all instrumental it can reach a wider audience of non Swede speaking music fans.
Other bands that come to mind when I heard thre music on the debut, Tid är ljud, is Camel (especially in the opening track) and King Crimosn (with the slight dissonace throughout the music). There's so many other bands, I even heard some say there's some Magma influences in the music.
After listening and digesting the music, I found it to be beyond retro, almost as if it was music that was intended for the 70’s but with modern recording values. It has something that most progressive rock bands don’t, the ability to carry on with the 70’s era movement rather than emulate it. They also use analog keys, vintage bass and guitar tones, and a style of drumming that is not too in your face.
Just like most Swedish progressive rock, it has a very laid back, relaxed feel yet with enough quirkiness to keep the listener paying attention. This is one of the better debuts I’ve heard from a modern Swedish progressive rock band (post 1990) and needs to be in the collection of fans of the afore mentioned bands as well as countless other Swedish prog bands. I believe this is the crème de la crème in 2006 and I can’t wait for another from this amazing band! Needless to say, I highly recommend this album without any doubt.
Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on December 12th, 2006
