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If anyone believes that serious and well-thought-out prog died and was buried at the end of the '70s, this album is here to convince them otherwise.
Isildurs Bane is a Swedish band, not just "another Swedish band," but, to put it better, I believe they are among the most intelligent, skilled, innovative, and serious musicians of recent decades on a global level. Their discography is quite extensive, having released at least a dozen studio albums since 1981, with a style that has evolved from openly symphonic-romantic textures to exploring fusion and jazz rock realms with numerous Zappa-esque hints, culminating, in recent years, in a very personal and imaginative prog style, almost entirely non-derivative and at times hard-chamber oriented, without neglecting large spaces of symphonic and keyboard-driven jazz rock with an ensemble often comprising 15 elements.
I consider the album in question to be their masterpiece. It was released in 2001, and I believe it can be ranked among the top five prog albums of the new millennium for its expressive power, thematic analysis, technical skills, creativity, and sonic richness. All of this is thanks to a long and intricate endeavor that began with a live recording, onto which many new parts were overdubbed, giving the recording a unique atmosphere that, in rock history, is only comparable to similar experiments by the maestro Frank Zappa. Thus, two CDs for almost two and a half hours of music, including at least forty-five minutes of previously unreleased material, and, for the released portions, such significant transformations that make it a tremendous novelty.
In 1997, the programming of a sound trilogy titled MIND began, an acronym meaning "Music Investigating New Dimension," and true to what it indicates, the investigations are indeed wide-ranging, wandering through dimensions that are at times ethereal, at times majestic and monumental with textures that even cover hard rock spaces with symphonic and strongly progressive connotations. The work, which the band themselves summarize as "create, deconstruct, and reassemble," is carried out not with cold mathematical precision but with the romantic and artisanal soul of a tailor crafting garments with the spirit of someone who truly believes in their work.
If I were to highlight a few tracks that more than others bring the atmospheres to the many sublime moments that make up this work, I could suggest "Extroversion," which acts a bit as the filrouge of the piece. It is divided into various parts that recur throughout the tracks; the song, thanks to its diverse musicality, lends itself to different interpretations and thus serves as the ideal bridge for every subsequent and evocative musical scene, as if we were on a grand stage with external scenarios changing not only musically but also in their more complex theatricality. Other imposing and shocking tracks in their forms are "Unity" and "Ataraxia," two examples of how music can present itself in its most complex form and still appear accessible in the broadest sense of the term, thanks to a playful, romantic, animated change of forms whose intrinsic feelings reach directly to the listener's heart.
This album can well represent the gateway to accessing the rest of their splendid discography. For those willing to try them, their website offers many tracks to listen to, allowing one to understand what is being discussed.
Tracklist
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