Abramis Brama - Smakar Sondag Arzgarth ( SuperAdmin ) 55,337 posts since 7/17/2002 Posted on 8/9/2009 at 9:02:07 AM Abramis Brama - Smakar Sondag Review by John Pegoraro (StonerRock.com) Transubstans Records Release date: 2009 In many ways, Abramis Brama is the crazy old uncle of the Swedish retro rock scene. Most people will place Witchcraft at the top of the heap, assuming they kicked the whole sub-genre off. But Abramis has been at it just a little longer and yet never managed to grab that brass ring. Those in the know laud the group, but to the vast majority, Abramis is at best a band they've heard of but not actually heard. Here's hoping Smakar Sondag changes that. My experience with the band is limited to Dansa Tokjavelns Vals and their live album from a couple of years back, but compared to those two, Smakar is a noted progression. How so? Well, while I've come a long ways since my “Sing English or die” attitude (one of the many simpleminded joys of youthful ignorance), I still find it easier for a song to click with me when the singer's not warbling in some foreign tongue. And yet like most of their previous albums, Smakar's sung in 100% Swedish, but that didn't bother me one bit. Obviously, credit is going to go towards the songwriting skills of the band and the overall musicianship. Abramis can be defined as straightforward classic hard rock, minus any sort of heavy-handed approach. Sure, there are riffs galore (opening track “Kylan Kommer Inifrån” alone has more than enough to spare), but they're countered by subtly effective hooks, a surefooted rhythm section, and a couple of moments where the band trades the bombast for a jazzier approach. “Vägskäl” in particular plays to these strengths. The first half is fairly subdued, which makes the transition to the cowbell and solo driven second half all the more effective. You expect a song like that to kick out the motherfucking jams, and that it does. I'm sure the addition of Backdraft's Rob Johansson on second guitar helps – there's a lot more drive to Smakar Sondag (see “Enkel Resa” and “Förbjuden Frukt”). Given my unfamiliarity with the band's overall discography, I can't say this is the best of the lot, but I've no problem recommending it as a starting point. So that said, if you want to hear a band that's been tilling the same Witchcraft/Graveyard/Dead Man soil just a little longer, Smakar Sondag's the album for you. Enjoy. URL: http://www.abramisbrama.com/ Edited 0 Times I`m never going to work another day in my life   Arzgarth ( SuperAdmin ) 55,337 posts since 7/17/2002 Posted on 8/9/2009 at 9:02:30 AM Available in All That Is Heavy URL: http://www.allthatisheavy.com Edited 0 Times I`m never going to work another day in my life   Stickman ( Community Supporter ) 17,362 posts since 9/30/2006 Posted on 8/9/2009 at 3:01:58 PM On first listen, it wasn't grabbing me and wasn't different enough from the retro-Swedes Arz listed to establish itself in my playlist. But after tooling around Echo Lake buzzed with Tom Oz and giving the album more of my attention, i realized it is pretty solid and some good hard rock. I still like their Rubicon album from 2005 better, but this one is pretty good. Edited 0 Times The real in us is silent; the acquired is talkative. - Gibran   Arzgarth ( SuperAdmin ) 55,337 posts since 7/17/2002 Posted on 8/10/2009 at 8:42:15 AM Yeah, I had the same initial "Eh, I've heard it all before" reaction but it really is a well constructed, subtly good album. Edited 0 Times I`m never going to work another day in my life     ( Post a Reply to This Thread ) ( Back to Album Reviews )