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Magnus Öström was the drummer of the Esbjorn Svensson Trio, and this is his first solo album after the loss (and apparently under his eyes) of his friend and artistic partner Esbjorn in 2008, to whom this work is justly dedicated. Of that magical trio, the double bassist was the first to recover and founded the Tonbruket, steering everything towards experimental prog. I had wondered several times why Ostrom had not wanted to join that project, but the fact is that, as a victim of a bad depression, our drummer suffered a lot, which can be felt significantly on the record.
Well, while browsing the web, I came across a very harsh review of this excellent debut work, as well as those of the Tonbruket (two albums so far, both excellent!), stating that with the death of pianist Svensson, these guys are stumbling in the dark, producing banal and derivative albums with no direction... damn, I say, it is precisely from life phases like these that interesting albums emerge! And this one is, trust me, and if you were fans of EST, you can't miss it.
Magnus appears on a black cover, with a cymbal under his arm, and with a stern expression, he seems to tell us that the worst is over and that the best thing he could do was to lay himself bare to exorcise his ghosts (see song titles). And that's what he did.
He composed the entire album in solitude, joined by the excellent Andras Hourdakis (guitars), Gustaf Karlof (piano, keyboards, vocoder), Thobias Gabrielson (bass, keyboards, trumpet), all Swedes, called his friend Pat Metheny on acoustic - how angry I am to have missed that tour in which EST played with him, a few years ago - and, not by chance, Dan Berglund to play double bass on the highly worthy 10-minute "Ballad for E" (sbjorn). And it is precisely his friend Pat who influences the work (and what's wrong with that?) at various points, with solutions similar to what the PMG produced in the '80s on albums like "As Falls Wichita..." or "First Circle" (the clapping and beautiful choruses make "Afilia Mi" seem like an outtake of the title track from that album). It's as if the magnificent Swedish skies merged with the equally magnificent ones of Missouri, and the result is quite moving.
Unlike Dan, Magnus does not focus on experimentation, nor on virtuosity, relying almost exclusively on an emotional flow, on melancholic atmospheres, poignant but consoling, with a balanced and refined use of electronics to enhance the colors. And above all, it makes us understand that his particular drumming is unique, and that in the economy of the EST sound, it had a massive weight. After a couple of listens, it's nice to realize that, despite the long duration (almost 80 minutes), there's nothing to discard here, and after the ascent from the inferno of the intro ("Prelude"), you soar high till the end.
Bravo Magnus, excellent start, I can’t wait to see you perform live... ah, and if these are the bad albums, well, then I want many more!
MAGNUS OPUS, rating 4.5
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