Music - Gosta Berlings Saga: Tid ar Ljud, Detta Har Hant

Gosta Berlings Saga (whose name is taken from a famous Swedish novel) are a fantastic instrumental rock band from Sweden. To date they have released three albums, and although I've yet to hear their latest, the first two are both excellent.

The music of this band is built using the typical rock lineup of guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, but the band couldn't sound further from typical rock. What we are treated to hear are greatly textured soundscapes, built with textured layered guitars, lively bass, and excellent drumbeats.

In both of their albums, the magic is in the details. The various instruments interact with each other in such a way to create beautifully textured pieces of music, masterfully layering the sounds to build gorgeous soundscapes that are atmospheric more than melodic. The sum is definitely more than the parts, with the interactions between the instruments creating the subtle tapestry that defines the bands sound. Multiple listens are definitely recommended, for there are plenty of little details that are easier to notice once one is familiar with the music. 

Listening to their debut, Tid ar Ljud reveals a band with a lot more chops and confidence than one would expect, and with a surprisingly solid ability to craft complex, yet listenable instrumental music. 

Between their first and second album, the band changed guitarists, so Tid ar Ljud is the only album they released with Matthias Danielson on guitars. Compared to Einar Baldursson, who would replace him on the next album, Matthias puts a bit more rock and 

heaviness into his playing, making this album a bit meatier than its follow-up. This works quite 

well, and the closing track, Svarta Hal Och Elljusspår (which roughly translates to Black holes and Floodlit Track) is 

perhaps the best example of this. It is also possibly the best track I have heard from this very 

talented group thus far.

Their second album, Detta Har Hant (which translates to "This Has Happened"), as I mentioned already, features new guitarist Einar Baldursson. I don't know how much of it is because of Einar's involvement, but the sound on this album is a lot more precise, and the soundscapes have a bit more depth. Einar has a more mature and restrained sound than Matthias, although as a result Detta Har Hant does not rock as hard as the debut. Instead it has a bit more of a spacey sound that was not quite as present in the first. This change shows that the band is prepared to continue to grow and evolve their sound, yet despite that the two albums both retain distinct similarities.

The music on Detta Har Hant is incredibly strong, and I'd be hard pressed to name a single track that I didn't like. 

I must admit that most of my favorite moments on this album are the more upbeat tracks, such as the opener Kontrast (Contrast), Fem Trappor (Five Stairs), but I also have a soft spot for the build up in some of their more laid back tracks, such as Nattskift (Night Shift), which builds from a soft keyboard part before the guitar comes in. 

Overall, Detta Har Hant is an excellent release that deserves a lot of attention, especially from those who enjoy adventurous instrumental music.

Definitely a recommended band. Now to get my hands on their latest, "Glue Works"...

Buy their music! 

Tid ar Ljud - Wayside Music | Lasers Edge

Detta Har Hant - Amazon.ca | Wayside Music | Lasers Edge

Both available at Synphonic

Movie - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

The following text will likely contain spoilers.

Movie - Triangle (Analysis)

Please note that this blog entry is going to be full of spoilers on the movie Triangle; it is an in depth analysis both of the plot, and the strong and weak points of the movie. If you would like to read a review of it that is spoiler free, please proceed to my review of Triangle.

Movie - Triangle

Although it is labelled as a horror, I wouldn't call Triangle such. It is not really scary, and although several elements common to horror movies do happen to exist in the movie, the way the story plays out is quite surprising. I would classify this as a really good psychological thriller.

The movie has quite a fair amount of shock value, and before the movie is half over, at least one of your pre-conceptions about the way this type of movie should play out will be shattered. The plot twists and bends and continues to mess with your mind, and for me, I was pretty much on the edge of my seat until the end of the movie.

This is a movie that benefits coming in with a blank slate. The trailer does contain a fair amount of spoilers but is presented in such a way that they are not what they seem - a good twist in my mind, although I would recommend seeing this without watching the trailer first if possible.

The most difficult part of describing this movie is doing so without giving away any spoilers, so in that sense let me just say that the plot of this movie has to be seen first hand to fully appreciate. If you know what to expect, a lot of the "What the!" moments of the movie will not quite have the same impact. Luckily, even in that case, the movie itself is a big puzzle, and it doesn't quite tell you how all the pieces fit together, so there is still entertainment value if you know what to expect.

This movie isn't without flaws though. In my rumination over the puzzles, I have found at least one of what seems like a logical flaw to me (or at least, a piece of the puzzle that leads to a less satisfying answer). Furthermore, some of the character development was not as strong as you would like - although then again, the reason for this is part of why the movie was so shocking to me and so I'm not entirely sure how they could have done this differently.

In Depth plot analysis - including huge spoilers

Trailer: