I must admit upon receiving a copy of The Carpet Knights’s debut, Lost And So Strange Is My Mind, I almost dreaded listening. But I was so wrong. And shouldn’t have judged them by their name or cover. The Carpet Knights is a five-piece band from Malmö, Sweden, that formed in 1998. Although at times the line-up has fluctuated, it’s been stable since 2002. The band consists of Mattias Ankarbranth on drums and percussion; Tobias Wulff on guitars; Magnus Nilsson on vocals and flute; Joakim Jönsson on guitars and vocals; and Nils Andersson on bass guitar.
The band seems to draw it’s inspiration from the 70's but with a new millennium vibe that would put them up with the more melancholy bands of the day. In many ways they bridge a gap between old and new progressive rock. In fact more so than many of the modern retro bands. The Carpet Knights don’t clone or copy the sound, to me they emerge themselves in the whole culture surrounding the music of the 70's.
The songs on the album are mainly range between 3 to 6 minutes with the exception of the last song, Last of Many. The music is on the heavy side of the progressive rock spectrum without becoming too metallic. For those that care, the album is under 50 minutes and contains no “filler” songs. After several listens, I can’t say there’s a highlight for me because simply this is one of the few albums I can return to and listen from beginning to end.
Fans of the Scandinavian progressive scene will rejoice with The Carpet Knights since they fit so perfectly within that faction. I would, without a doubt, recommend this album. The band’s strength can be noticed both by the vocals and the way the songs are arranged and composed. I think The Carpet Knights will one day be a household name, at least within the progressive and classic rock communities.
Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on January 17th, 2006
