Friday, September 12, 2014

A Few Of The Best Scandinavian Prog Rock Groups

By Kerri Stout


Progressive rock still remains a popular genre in music to this day. Fans of this type of music should definitely check out the Scandinavian prog rock bands that are currently on the scene. The genre is extremely popular with Scandinavian people of all ages. Prog rock began with the Beatles album, Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club band and the early acid fueled psychedelia of Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd.

Sweden's Beardfish are well worth taking a listen too. Similar to Genesis and Yes the band bring progressive rock to the modern day. They formed in 2001 and have had several different musicians com and go. The band's fist album is called Fran En Plats Du Ej Kan Se, which was released in 2003 to great success.

Another great Swedish progressive rock band are The Flower Kings. The band formed in August 1994 by veteran guitarist Roine Stolt. The band have produced 11 acclaimed albums in their lifetime. The band is influenced by jazz and blues music and are characterized by their use of sharp dynamic changes, polyrhythms, heavy bass, vocal harmonies, abstract lyrics, and extended songs.

Norway's Magic Pie blend a 70s sound with contemporary music. The band creates strong melodies, interesting lyrics, powerful vocal arrangements, sparkling guitar riffs, 70s organ hooks, and a solid rhythm section. There music can be soft and gentle or blistering heavy metal. Magic Pie formed in 2005 and have released three albums, with another due in 2014.

Apocalyptica is a Finnish progressive rock band from Helsinki that formed in 1993 and are still going strong. Rather than bass and guitars the band consists of three classically trained cellists and a drummer. This makes their music very unique. They started out as a Metallica covers band, but soon began to create their own style of progressive heavy metal on cellos!

Another Finnish prog rock band is Spacefolk who create beautiful and exciting music that blends folk music with space rock. They use many instruments, including violin, didgeridoo, cello, mandolin, marimba, sitar and vibraphone, as well as guitar, bass and drums. They formed in 1999 and have created eight albums in their successful career. The band has remained on an independent record label and have achieved cult status among progressive rock fans the world over.

Kingston Wall are also from Helsinki and create beautiful music that is influenced by the likes of Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Their music combine eastern themes with vivid psychedelia producing a lush space rock. The band have remained an underground outfit and a cult favorite with progressive rock fans. They have released three albums, as well as several remix albums and a live DVD.

The Swedish prog rock band, Moon Safari have a symphonic instrumental vibe that uses complicated vocal harmonies. These vocals are an important part of their overall sound and they often sing acapella as well as produce songs using guitars, bass and drums. They just love to play around with unusual time signatures and a lot of their sings exceed the 10 minute mark. The band won the Vox Pop vote at the 9th annual Independent Music Awards for their "In the Countryside" album. Moon Safari are a band to definitely check out if you are a fan of the genre.




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