A Time Of Day by Anekdoten

Review:

(Points: 5 out of 5)

ANEKDOTEN — A Time Of Day

Review by Heptade (Allister Thompson)i>

PROG REVIEWER

This has been a big year for new albums, what with Porcupine Tree, Rush and Marillion records coming out. Those records have all been pretty good, but for me, this was the one I was waiting for, and it's everything I cracked it up to be.

Anekdoten has improved with every CD, with 2003's Gravity being their last triumph, an album on which they added pop, ambient and psych elements to their usual dark prog riffage. The live record Waking the Dead was also a triumph and well worth picking up. This record finds them refining their sound further on a remarkably consistent album. There are new touches, such as violin, flute on 30 Pieces, some nice synth and organ sounds and even some hard rock riffs. As always, there are great big lashes of majestic 'tron all over everything, which pleases me no end. The songs are strong, ranging from the pounding dark prog numbers which the band is known for to delicate acoustic songs like Stardust and Sand and Prince of the Ocean, the album's highlight track. The band's vocals from Jan Erik Liljeström and Nicklas Barker continue to improve with each passing album.

I find it hard to find any fault with this record, which is a stew of psychedelic dark prog of the highest order from an incredibly consistent band. I think Anekdoten is the finest young prog band in the world today, and this is their best record- better than the new PT? You bet. It's their masterpiece. Housed in a really nifty digipak with great art and high quality paper, this is an essential.

Anekdoten did a few live dates in Scandinavia to coincide with the album release and in June they will play at Sweden Rock Festival, a festival headlined by Aerosmith, Heaven & Hell and Scorpions. A full scale European tour will follow late autumn 2007.

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Anekdoten was formed in 1991 by Anna Sofi Dahlberg, Nicklas Berg (now Barker), Peter Nordins and Jan Erik Liljeström and the line up has remained intact since the beginning. Anekdoten has released 5 studio albums on their own Virta-label and 3 live albums in Japan. The Anekdoten album sales have exceeded 75 000 copies.

Their debut album ‘Vemod’ was released in 1993 and was an instant classic. Their reputation as a great live act was established after their performance at Progfest in Los Angeles, which was the most important festival for new prog bands at the time. Since then they have been touring in Europe numerous times, played in the USA three times and Japan twice. Anekdoten has also performed in Canada, Argentina and Brazil.

The follow up ‘Nucleus’, released late 1995, was an uncompromized, grungy and distorted affair. Some found it too heavy and diabolic, others found ‘Nucleus’ to be a leap forward for the band. ‘Nucleus’ confirmed the band’s status within the prog community and is considered a cult album by many of the fans.

In 1998 Nicklas and Peter teamed up with Stefan Dimle and Reine Fiske from another of Sweden's acclaimed progressive bands at the time - Landberk - to record an album under the moniker Morte Macabre. The album ‘Symphonic Holocaust’ mainly consisted of soundtrack themes from 70's era horror movies. Stefan is nowadays playing with Paatos and Reine is one of the two founding members of the acclaimed underground sensation Dungen.

Anekdotens third studio album ‘From Within’ was released in 1999. On ‘From Within’ the band moved slightly away from the 70's influenced progressive rock of its predecessors and towards a more contemporary sound.

Their fourth album ‘Gravity’ is perhaps their most accessible. It was released in 2003 and divided the fan base into two camps - those who thought that Anekdoten had sold out and those who found that they were getting better and better.

The Japanese Arcángelo label have released 3 live albums by Anekdoten:

- a 4 track mini-CD called ‘Live EP’ (1997)

- the 2-CD ‘Official Bootleg, Live In Japan’ (1998)

-the CD ‘Waking The Dead, Live In Japan 2005’ (also released as a 2 LP by the band)

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