Daniel Gildenlöw tagged posts

All journies begin with a single step… And in the case of Ayreon’s ‘The Final Experiment,’ it was a step that shook the progressive world. Until then, the concept of a ‘rock opera’ had been left dormant since the early 80s, for the most part. And then out of the Netherlands comes a modest man with a great musical vision to change things, and contribute something great to the world. ‘The Final Experiment,’ while not quite a masterpiece, it is a milestone in modern Prog.

The concept, while a bit corny, is well thought out, and the story sets the stage for future Ayreon tales to be told. In summary, a young medieval Ministrel (named Ayreon) is contacted by humans from the far future to warn the world of it’s own downfall. However, things don’t go to plan, and a series of misfortunes ensue...

When listening to one of guitar virtuoso Ron Jarzombek’s more recent projects- Blotted Science’s ‘The Machinations Of Dementia’- I could not have been more blown away by the sheer technical ferocity of the man’s vision and composition. As much a brilliant mathematician as he is a guitarist, Jarzombek has impressed me with everything I’ve heard of his, and Spastic Ink’s debut has been no exception to that. Although not a entirely emotive piece of work, ‘Ink Complete’ is a musician’s dream listening experience, and should see fit to stretch lobes of even a Calculus major.

The first thing I notice with the music of Spastic Ink is that it is a fair bit less heavy that what I’ve heard of Jarzombek’s work before; the album is worked through by lead guitar, bass, and drums...

So here it is, the end of 2011. It’s probably been the biggest music year of my life, at least in terms of listening to the work of others is concered. I’ve probably listened to about two or three hundred albums this year, and it was pretty difficult to pick out the best of the best. There was plenty of mediocre stuff I heard, but there are more than enough records that came out of 2011 that I’ll be taking with me well into 2012. For most of these albums, I have included a link to the review I originally wrote for it. I understand that what’s written in the reviews may not align with what I say here, but my opinions are fluid and have evolved over the course of the year...

The final podcast in ProgSphere’s December series of AwesomeCasts has arrived and by this we round the story of the best 100 albums released in 2011. This episode is called xCeptional, meaning that this podcast doesn’t cover any particular genre subcategory. I covered everything from metal to psychedelic rock to progressive to fusion jazz and electronic, making this AwesomeCast being the most eclectic.

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The complete tracklist is below and I won’t spend the words and waste your time who did what, the choice has been made and all you have to do is to enjoy or complain about it...

Nick: Hello, Roine. How are you doing? Transatlantic tour is almost done, there's still a concert on High Voltage Festival in July, but I guess it would be all. Are you satisfied how this tour turned to be? Do you have in plan releasing a DVD?

Roine: Tour has been fantastic - audiences everywhere have been beyond amazing - band get along and we had boatloads of fun - what more can you ask for.

Nick: I am sure that now after having The Whirlwind and of course previous two albums, it was difficult and tedious for you guys to do more than 3 hours gigs. Has Daniel maybe cursed you for making all those epics, as he's the one who probably is not accustomed to that, hehe? I have to say that I admire to all of you to making this out.

Roine: Being the oldest member of the band I'm proud to say that I was probably the one that stood the test - I felt very relaxed and did not feel exhausted at all - it was an easy ride and I'd be glad to play even 25 more shows. 3 hours is a bit long - not exhausting really - cause we had a break of 15 min. but I think maybe a bit too much music and maybe a bit loud - but fans seemed to love it - and Daniel did good.

Pain of Salvation’s new child, Road Salt One is surely one of those albums that has been received and still is receiving many divided opinions. I suppose it’s along way from being their best, but I still absolutely love it. Some people complained about Pain of Salvation’s mainman’s eccentric philosophizing more than the music itself, but afterall that’s not what we should care about. As a huge fan of Pain of Salvation during the years, I’ve learned to carry on with Daniel’s experimenting and getting into new stuff and new mood changes.