Trettioåriga Kriget: With intricate musical textures and odd time’s signatures…..
Trettioåriga Kriget - Till Horisonten
The Thirty Years War or the Thirty Years War was a series of military conflicts fought between the states of Europe on the land of the German-speaking small states and the conflict is officially dated from 1618 to 1648. Inspired by this, the great Swede band Trettioåriga Kriget 26th of March the band will release their new album Till Horisonten, and in May the vinyl version will be released. Trettioåriga Kriget is probably not so well known among many prog lovers, but they should be that because the band are really worth listening to.
Trettioåriga Kriget is a Swedish progressive rock band that was formed in Saltsjöbaden outside Stockholm in 1970. They released their s/t debut album in 1974. They have earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became an influence for a new generation of Swedish and Scandinavian progressive rock bands,.
Till Horisonten (To the Horizon) is the 10th album from Trettioåriga Kriget. Actually, it is the 11th if you include Glorious War by the band’s original line-up of 1970-71. However, most would know this remarkable Swedish band from their first five albums, including the classic Krigssång (War Song). These were recorded between 1974 and 1981. In 2003 the band regrouped, consisting of the same members, gigging and recording as if there had been no hiatus at all.
Indeed, this phase II of TK’s career has proved extremely fruitful, and the new album is in many ways the crowning achievement of a very dedicated, tightly-knit ensemble of five musicians and a lyricist. The band are by now capable of drawing on all aspects of their extended experience as friends, fellow players and human beings. While every album from Elden Av År (The Fire Of Years, 2004) has to me sounded as vigorous and exciting, I strongly suspect that To the Horizon will continue to grow on probably all listeners, until it may stand out as the truly great Trettioåriga Kriget album.
It is the result of a prolonged effort, in its final stages a veritable defiance of the still current pandemic situation. Rehearsals and songwriting began already in the summer of 2017, and for once live improvisation formed the basis for the first track to be conceived, the epic instrumental The Road To The Horizon. In this magnificent composition, the band’s core trio of Stefan Fredin (bass), Dag Lundquist (drums) and Christer Åkerberg (guitar), make full use of the amazing interplay that has evolved between them over the years, while Mats Lindberg’s keyboards add colors and contours to the track’s 13 minutes and 55 seconds of non-stop excitement.
TK’s singers, Robert Zima and Fredin, show their strengths on the album’s seven other linked tracks. Of these, Fredin has written five, Lundquist contributes the brief, poignant Brevet (The Letter), while the beautiful, true title track Till Horisonten (To The Horizon), which ends the album, is credited to Fredin, Lundquist and Åkerberg. Recording took place in the band’s base of Saltsjöbaden, outside of Stockholm, between November 2019 and March 2020.
Song structures and moods vary with great ease. As ever, the shorter songs should not be overlooked: Till En Vän (To A Friend), a beautifully restrained, minor-key greeting to a departed poet friend of lyricist Olle Thörnvall’s, is very moving, as is En Gång (Once), a miniature only as regards its length of one and a half minute, but a song of rare, crystalline quality.
In other songs, intricate musical textures form the basis for supple and quite original melodies. In Memoriam with its impressively channeled energy, or Staden (The City), with its odd time signatures, are good exponents of the band’s skill as a musical collective, while Åkerberg’s guitar comes to the fore on many occasions throughout the album, contributing melodious embellishment as well as stunning power.
To The Horizon is an album of remarkable unity: unity of purpose, unity of music and lyrics and Johan Gullberg’s sensitive artwork, and also of strong emotion and vital energy. It is an album that celebrates the incredible life span of Trettioåriga kriget, that looks back on the band’s and its members’ life stories and counterbalances an inevitable melancholy with inventiveness and a curiosity that is still very much present after so many decades.
If you who listen with extra attention to the song Tidigt (Early) you probably will really enjoy this song. Both its lyrics and lithe melody speak of well-known things and surroundings that are still changing, that still appear new, and that still carry promises. The very same can be said about this rare band, Trettioåriga Kriget.
Tracklist:
1. Intro 00:49
2. In memoriam 07:39
3. Tidigt (Early) 04:35
4. Staden (The City) 06:39
5. Till En Vän (For A friend) 03:52
6. En gång (Once) 01:30
7. Brevet (The letter) 02:45
8. Vägen Till horisonten (The Road to The he Horizon) 13:55
9. Till Horisonten (To The Horizon) 05:08
While waiting for the new TK studio album we can listen to War Diaries Vol. 2: 1976 at Bandcamp
, the second live album of TKs radio broadcasts from the 70 in National Swedish Radio.
This live album is the second show recorded on the 15th of November 1976. The band was just back home from an extensive tour of England, and had just released their classic 2nd album Krigssån”. This means that the main part of the set here is from the Krigssång album. This live recording is regarded by many people, including the band themselves, as one of the absolute best existing live recordings of the band!! if not the best!
Presented here is the full show taken directly from the original tape remastered by drummer/producer Dag Lundquist in 2019.
Trettioåriga Kriget is:
Stefan Fredin – bass guitar, vocals, rhythm guitar
Dag Lundquist – drums, backing vocals, violin
Robert Zima – vocals, backing vocals
Christer Åkerberg – electric and acoustic guitars
Mats Lindberg – keyboards
Olle Thörnvall – lyrics
Link:
Facebook