Detailed Reviews [Paatos - 2001 - "Paatos"]

Paatos (Sweden) - 2001 - "Paatos"
(10 min, a real vinyl Single from "Mellotronen")

Prologue. As Landberk is the second Swedish band (after Isildurs Bane) I like and appreciate (because Landberk, - at least my favourite album of theirs "Indian Summer", - is free of any influences, especially of King Crimson's, unlike a lot of major contemporary Swedish progressive acts) I've been anxious about their long silence for more than a year already. Regarding Landberk's collaboration with the members of Anekdoten just as a one-off project (still haven't heard Morte Macabre's album, though), I've been waiting for the band's new album, especially since the members of Anekdoten in the interview to Progression last summer mentioned that they (still) rehearse next door to Landberk. Unfortunately, answering to my message, Stefan Dimle, now the owner of the small independent label "Mellotronen", said "Landberk WAS (a band)". So now the fact of Landberk's disbanding is obvious, it's sad to know it. But seeing the two of Landberk's masterminds in the line-up of Paatos, I want to believe they'll be able to carry on making thousands Landberk's fans happy with their new music too. (Note: I'd written this kind of introduction to my description of the first two songs of Paatos before I got hold (at long last!) of an old LP player in a special 'modern audio room' of one of the friends of mine.)

The album. Well, I've listened to it. Both songs are excellent, but "Side B" is better. Placing the more accessible (or bright) songs on "Side A" of the singles is more than just very typical in Rock Music in general. But, as we all remember, "Side B" songs most often weren't included in an (upcoming) album, so in this respect I'm just a bit anxious about Tea. The world of Progressive, however, is on the whole different from all the other contemporary musical worlds, so I hope to hear Tea in the upcoming Paatos debut album too. Perception is based on the whole on wonderful vocal themes (fortunately, Petronella's dramatic voice looks as an essential part of the music of Paatos) that segue into quite an innovative accompaniment of diverse interplays between bass guitar and varied percussion with just additional and kind of minimalist yet always charming guitar and piano arrangements. Tea contains much more instrumental parts than Perception and most of them sound powerfully progressive, though the part of lyrics is practically equal on both songs, and Petronella's vocals are as beautiful as on the "Side A".

Summary. First of all, I haven't noticed any 'outside' influences on the two songs from this another progressive unit, and the only exception to the music of Paatos is quite justified since the two Landberk's musicians are here. So, I believe you understand what I mean. To say more precisely, Landberk's typical light sorrow is present, too, - in the vocal lines on both tracks and in the instrumental arrangements on the second. Successfully combining innovative ideas with the (already) unique atmosphere always determined Landberk's music, the members of Paatos with their upcoming studio album can amaze not only the old band's fan-base, but also to attract a lot of new Prog-lovers to their music.

VM. June 7, 2001