BRIDGE TO MARS – Bridge To Mars (CD)

This one has been long awaited. This Swedish trio, featuring singer/guitarist JJ Marsh (Spellbound, Glenn Hughes), bassist Robert Hansen (Beardfish) and drummer Thomas Broman (Great King Rat, Electric Boys etc), just oozes of quality looking at these guys’ resumes. It was early on clear that this was going to be an earthy, retro rocking combo, which is just up my alley. Opener Days That Never Came mixes some cool riffing with melodic swirling parts in the landscape between the sixties and seventies, but landing on the right side of the fence for me. Mirror Magic Spirits opens with some hysteric guitar tones and continues into sounding like a vocal version of the Stockholm combo Plankton, which is really good in my book. Vintage Strat sounds without too much distortion, but heavy enough to rock and intense drumming with a busy bass filling the voids and JJ’s cool vocals. This is good stuff! SuperFi Yourself starts out with a super gritty evil sounding fuzz guitar and continues into a cool heavy, yet melodic retro rocker. Love it! In A White Light starts out pretty mellow but gets in the swing in the verse and lands somewhere in a bluesy Mahogany Rush:ish landscape. Soulshine brings back the evil and dirty guitars and gets the Hendrix mojo going in the beginning, but with a heavier stonking verse. A killer tune, indeed! Love the crushing, dirty guitar and rhythm work in this one, with JJ’s cool vocals hovering over it all. Amaze My Mind is also close to Plankton territory with its smooth, swirling melodic, almost folky feel. Jupiter’s Dream is another gritty rocker with ultra cool ever changing rhythm parts. It soon became my favourite on the album. Outstanding! Rivers Of Dissolution is also a cool track, where JJ is most likely using an ElectroHarmonix B9 or C9 organ Machine for his guitar. Have one myself and it’s a really cool sounding pedal that turns your guitar into a distorted Hammond organ. The album finishes with the blues ballad All This Time. All in all a killer debut for this power trio, a band I’d really like to see live, where I think the songs will really come alive. Highly recommended!

Janne Stark

Year: 2015

Country: Sweden

Label: Pride And Joy

Video: https://youtu.be/OnNTXS2BpRE

Hasse Fröberg & Music Companion - Future Past (CD)

Former Spellbound, current Flower Kings singer Hasse Fröberg has now compiled all his musical ideas into a masterful musical melting pot. He actually has invited some former Spellbound colleagues to accompany him, such as bass player Thomsson and drummer Ola Strandberg. Besides these fellas there are ace guitarist Anton Lindsjö and keyboard player Kjell Haraldsson. If you’re expecting the good old melodic 80s metal of Spellbound, forget it. If you’re however a latter day fan of Hasse’s where his vocal performance in The Flower Kings is of your liking, you should definitely check this out. HFMC is a highly progressive/symphonic band in the vein of The Flower Kings, but actually with a more melodic edge, still very heavy at times though. There are actually even hints of Saga in places. In the later part of “Fallen Empire” for example, where the chorus has more of an AOR/pomp-touch. I also hear influences of Yes and Genesis in the subsequent “Song For July”. Hasse feels a bit more relaxed and free vocally compared to The Flower Kings, more akin to what he did in Spellbound, but with a more mature touch. The songs are very well constructed and the arrangements are killer. A song like 14 minute “Piece Of The Sky” NEVER gets boring, on the contrary, it keeps surprising you all the time. With Queen-like precision the song slithers seamlessly from poppy sing-along parts, though heavy guitar riffs to proggy parts. These are some great musicians, too, I must say! Lindsjö is one hell of a guitar player that at times shows quite a jazzy side to his playing, which gives the songs yet another dimension. “Above” is yet another killer track which also moves through several musical dimensions, starting out with a dead heavy riff that changes into a subtle Pink Floydish landscape with Lindsjö sounding like he was breast fed with Gilmour’s smooth guitar melodies. This is nothing short of awesome! No offence to The Flower Kings, but I personally like this way more! For some reason I kept thinking about the golden oldie “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” when I listen to “Everyday”. Never mind, it’s probably just my ears. “The Ultimate Thrill” has to be my absolute favourite track, though. This is HEAVY rock!! Old school classic heavy rock with concrete heavy guitars á la carte! Awesome, indeed!

Janne Stark
Year: 2010
Label: Reingold Music
Country: Sweden
http://www.hassefroberg.com/
http://www.myspace.com/hassefrobergandthemusicalcompanion