All Traps on Earth – A Drop of Light (2018)
Artist: All Traps on Earth
Album: A Drop of Light
Genre: Symphonic Prog
Label: AMS Records
Year Of Release: 2018
Quality: FLAC (tracks+.cue)
Tracklist:
1. All Traps on Earth (18:17)
2. Magmatic Warning (16:10)
3. Omen (13:00)
4. First Step (2:04)
5. Bortglömda Gårdar (14:01)
Personnel:
– Miranda Brand / vocals
– Johan Brand / Mellotrons, Moog Voyager/Minitaur, organs, Fender Rhodes, clavinet, basses, Taurus bass pedals, guitar, percussion, vocals, composer, arranger, producer
– Thomas Johnson / grand piano, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Pianet, clavinet, organ, Mellotron, Moog Voyager
– Erik Hammarström / drums, snare, vibes, marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, crotales, timpani, bass drum, wood block, tam tam, tubular bells
With:
– Phil Mercy / guitar
– Fredrik Lindborg / bass clarinet, baritone, tenor, alto & soprano saxophones
– Karl Olandersson / trumpet, flugelhorn
– Magnus Båge / concert flute
– Matthias Bååth / bass & concert flutes, tenor & alto recorders
All Traps On Earth is a project by Swedish bassist Johan Brand, known from Änglagård. All Traps On Earth’s first release, A Drop of Light, is a passion project five years in the making. All the songs on the album are composed and written by Brand (only one song has lyrics although there are plenty of vocals) and he also played most of the instruments on the album.
Bass is Brand’s main instrument, but on A Drop of Light he also plays a large number of keyboards (including Mellotron, Moog Voyager, Fender Rhodes) and a significant proportion of the guitars on the album. He recruited his daughter Miranda Brand (vocals), Thomas Johnson (keyboards) and Erik Hammarström (drums) to join the band. Johnson and Hammarsröm both also play in Änglagård. The album also features guitarist Phil Mercy of Thieves’ Kitchen and four wind players playing a wide range of different wind instruments. With this line-up, Brand has been able to create a rich, at times downright orchestrally massive, soundscape.
The 18 minute ”All Traps On Earth”, which starts very Änglagård-like, really kicks off after a few minutes with a blowing section that blasts in with tremendous force, reminiscent of the opening track ”Cirkus” from King Crimson’s 1970 album Lizard. After that, we return to more of the Änglagård-esque atmospheres (which, admittedly, already owe a lot to King Crimson to begin with…). Johan Brand’s melodic bass lines make a big impression at many points in the song. In fact, in the album booklet Brand says that the whole project was inspired by a bass pattern that wouldn’t leave him alone and I think he’s referring to that very same pattern that immediately caught my attention. Either way, very classy playing from him.
At 16 minutes, ”Magmatic Warning” is the most upbeat and boisterous track on the album and, as the title suggests, contains some Magma influences such as growling zeuhl bass. The track also features some mariachi-inspired horn playing which is an interesting change from the otherwise rather dark overall mood of the album.
In the 13-minute ”Omen”, influences from Italian ”ghost-prog” (e.g. Goblin) can be detected, especially in Miranda Brand’s ethereal, ghostly vocals. Brand’s high-pitched vocals are at times downright operatic in style, I don’t know if she has a classical music background, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she does, such is the skill with which she sings. The brass – and especially the trumpet – parts of the song again bring to mind King Crimson’s colourful album Lizard. Lizard is also suggested by the orchestral grandeur of the composition, which in places swells to spectacular proportions. And the ending of the song is truly magnificent. This song takes no prisoners!
The album’s closing 14-minute track, ”Bortglömda Gårdar”, is the first on the album to feature a song with actual lyrics. Surprisingly, instead of Miranda Brand, the lyrics, written in Swedish, are mainly sung by Johan himself, with his daughter Miranda in the background. The lyrical vocals add a nice change to the instrumental work, which has already lasted more than 40 minutes, and it wouldn’t necessarily have been a bad idea to add some vocals here and there to at least some of the other songs on the album. Also ”Bortglömda Gårdar” has some echoes of Magma, although on the other hand the heavy use of Mellotrons again takes us in the direction of Änglagård. The song again uses the winds in a very nice and aggressive sound. The synthesizer is also given more space than before, bringing with it a completely new, perhaps slightly more modern, tone. This type of synthesizer use could be an interesting direction for All Traps On Earth in the future.
A Drop of Light is 63 minutes long, which is a long time for such dense and complex music, but it says a lot about the interest of the compositions and the richness of the arrangements that the album doesn’t feel overwhelmingly long. The listening experience is also made easier by the strong dynamic, yet warm sounds, which make it possible to listen to the album at high volume without tiring the ears. This album is not spoiled by loudness-war.
A Drop of Light cannot be praised as a particularly innovative album, but is content to build on the traditions of progressive rock with fine emotional and technically skilful compositions. I’m not a big fan of ”retroprog” myself, but when it’s of this quality I can’t help but surrender to it and enjoy it.
All Traps On Earth’s debut is a highly recommended purchase for all fans of Änglagård and symphonic progressive rock, and to my taste it seems even more successful than Änglagård’s last album Viljans öga (2012) and provides a credible counter to that parent band’s best album Hybris (1992). Interesting to see if this line-up will continue. If so, hopefully there will be a slightly bigger departure from Änglagård’s style.
by JANNE YLIRUUSI
