Short Reviews [Hasse Froberg & the Musical Companion - 2019 - "Parallel Life"]

Hasse Froberg & Musical Companion are back with their fourth album, and the first one without the full name on the cover, and given that 2015’s release had the abbreviation as the album title I wonder if they have changed their name. Froberg has of course been lead singer with The Flower Kings since their 1997 album ‘Stardust We Are’, a position he holds to this current day and as well as releasing this album in 2019 he of course also features on their ‘Waiting For Miracles’. Prior to joining The Flower Kings he had been a member of the melodic hard rock group Spellbound, and HFMC (at least by this example) are an amalgam of the two. It is incredibly polished, with great vocals (of course) and there are some great songs contained within, it’s just a shame I can’t get a handle on it at all. There are plenty of people raving over this, but while I do agree it is a reasonably good album, it feels way too sanitised and clean. The bottom end is almost non-existent, and it feels like every knows their part and what they have to play but it isn’t organic. There is no edges here whatsoever, they have all been smoothed over so the whole dynamic contrast has disappeared and we all sit in the middle eating tea and crumpets. There is no soul, no gravitas, and I just feel like I have overdosed on sugar. There truly are some great musicians at play here, and Anton Lindsjo in particular needs a very special mention as he tries, he really tries, with some shredding which makes me think this could be a very different album indeed if it had been produced and mastered in a different manner to what it has. Fans of melodic rock with some progressive tendencies may find this of interest, while those who follow The Flower Kings may well track this down for completeness, but for me, next!